


Running with the Wolves: New Bonds

by Dancingdog



Series: RWTW [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jack being Jack, M/M, Multi, Sequel, redemption arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:21:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 66,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24215080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancingdog/pseuds/Dancingdog
Summary: Sequel to Running with the WolvesCastiel and Gabriel are finally safe and happy within the Winchester pack. They have loving mates, a protective family, and the kindest friends that anyone could ever ask for. Everything is perfect....Until their older brothers join the pack.
Relationships: Balthazar/Gadreel/Hannah (Supernatural), Castiel/Dean Winchester, Crowley/Meg Masters, Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Series: RWTW [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747768
Comments: 331
Kudos: 317





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **The last chapter of the original RWTW has changed completely since I hated how it ended and I have other plans for the characters now. You don't have to read the update (although it is very short!) but be warned that some of the things that I wrote in the original ending won't actually happen here.**

“Do you take card payments?” 

The repairman levelled Michael with an unimpressed stare, his drill clenched firmly in his white-knuckled fist as though he was contemplating placing it against the alpha’s head. 

When it was clear that there would be no response, Michael coughed lightly and clasped his hands behind his back. “I’ll have to visit the bank. May I ask how much I owe you?” 

The repairman – a scruffy, rotund alpha with skin as tough as leather – chewed his gum as though imitating a particularly bored cow, spat on the grass, and lifted his chin. “Eight hundred.” 

Michael grimaced at the clump of saliva glistening on his garden, then balked at the other alpha. “Eight hundred dollars? To replace a window?” 

The repairman continued to stare at him, chewing listlessly.

With no further explanation forthcoming, Michael deflated. “Fine,” he grumbled as he snatched his car keys from an elegant crystal bowl. 

“Would you like a coffee?” asked Raphael as he popped his head outside. Michael would have to talk to him about eavesdropping. 

The repairman turned his dead-eyed gaze to the younger alpha.

Michael ducked out of the house, leaving his brother to deal with the tradesman. He slipped into his Bentley and drove the twenty-minute journey to the bank, musing over the broken window he had woken up to that morning. It was the third one in as many months and that wasn’t including the smashed window of Lucifer’s Aston Martin. 

The neighbourhood wasn’t particularly rough or unsavoury, and none of the other residents had reported any crime. However, since moving in two years ago, the three Novak brothers had been targets of various hate crimes, including (but not limited to): vulgar graffiti painted over their cars and exterior walls, egging (both of their house and their persons), mailed death threats, mailed faeces, unknown substances smeared over their windows and door… and the list went on. 

Michael knew that their family wasn’t particularly liked, but he had no idea just how deeply they were despised.

He sighed and parked in front of the bank. This village was almost always empty and this afternoon was no different. The surrounding houses were old and fairly unkempt and Michael pulled a face at them as he climbed out of the car. His ocean gaze swept around the lifeless road as he wandered over to the ATM and inserted his card. He inputted his pin and selected the option to withdraw cash, only to tense when he felt something hard and cool press into the small of his back. 

“Maximum amount then give me your card,” a scratchy voice growled beside his ear. The smoky stench of cigarettes curled into Michael’s nostrils. 

He swallowed and lifted his chin. “I’ll cancel the card.”

The object against his back bit deeper. “I said: give me the cash and your card.” 

Michael closed his eyes for a few seconds, willing his racing heart to slow. “Do you know who I am?” he growled back, voice deep and thunderous and dripping with _head alpha_. “I’ll give you a five second head-start before I rip you to pieces.” 

The thug laughed – an awful raspy sound that ended with a cough. “I know exactly who you are, Novak. I can smell Daddy’s disappointment all over you. Now, give me what I want before I blow a hole through your spine.” 

Michael winced at the reminder of the man who had kicked him out of his family and had refused to offer him even a single phone call in the past two years. So much for love and loyalty. 

A furious snarl tore from Michael’s throat and he whirled around to punch the thug in the mouth. The greasy man staggered backwards and snarled back in challenge; his own alpha instincts demanding a brawl. More than happy to oblige, Michael kicked out at the other alpha, determined to prove that he was the superior of the pair. 

With a balaclava obscuring his features, the thug lunged forwards and socked Michael in the eye and then again in the lip. Michael hissed and raised a hand to his throbbing eye, only to have the other alpha ram him against the bank’s brick wall and smash his fist into his face repeatedly. When Michael was sufficiently bloodied and groaning, the thug kneed his stomach and drove the butt of his gun into the side his head. 

Michael slumped to the ground, head pounding as the thug drew cash out of his account and took his card. Michael squeezed his eyes closed, willing the world to stop tilting to the left. 

Something wet and warm landed on his face and he twisted his mouth in disgust before placing a hand in front of him and peeking an eye open. He shouted in protest at the sight of the thug’s jeans half way down his thighs as he urinated over Michael. 

Finally, the thug pulled his pants up and kicked Michael’s stomach. “Scumbag. Hope you and your filthy brothers are left to rot in a hole in the ground, alone and in pain, like you deserve.” 

The thug backed away from him and sprinted down the street, but not before scraping his weapon over the Bentley’s pristine white paint job. 

Dressed in black trousers and a smart blue shirt, which were now saturated in urine; his head throbbing and eye starting to purple, Michael began to shiver. 

He clenched his eyes shut and mentally scolded himself for the single tear that rolled down his cheek. He was such a weak alpha. Useless. For a moment, he wished his brothers were there to fix him, and he scolded himself for that too. _Worthless alpha._

He punched the ground and immediately regretted it as his knuckles split against the concrete.

He clambered to his feet shakily and limped towards his car, wondering how he would pay the repairman.

* * *

The TV provided a low noise to break up the silence of the room. Raphael pressed a bag of frozen peas to Michael’s eye before the other alpha growled softly and snatched it from him. Raphael flinched and Michael almost apologised before remembering that alphas weren’t supposed to apologise, especially to each other. 

“I was just trying to help,” Raphael offered quietly.

“I can do it myself, brother,” Michael huffed, because he had to prove that he was useful for something, right? 

In the corner of the room stood Lucifer; arms crossed and disapproving scowl etched onto his features.

“Why didn’t you just break his arms? Or his legs? I didn’t think you were that weak.” 

Michael grit his teeth. “He had a gun.”

“So what? Doesn’t mean he knew how to use it,” Lucifer scoffed. 

Michael clenched his fists and glowered at his brother. “As if you could do better. You can’t even beat me in a fight.” 

Lucifer bristled. “That’s a lie and you know it. I’d have snapped that guy’s neck before he got a punch in.”

“You’d have done nothing of the sort,” scoffed Michael. “That ruffian caught me off-guard. He had a gun pressed against my back because he was too cowardly to face me. Had it been a fair fight, I would have bested him no problem.” 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” muttered Lucifer.

“I’m not weak!” Michael snapped, a growl rumbling low in his chest as he puffed himself up in front of his brother. Lucifer quickly rose to the challenge, prowling forwards as he narrowed his eyes at his older brother. He smelled haughty and threatening. 

“I beg to differ,” Lucifer sneered.

Michael tossed the peas onto the floor and stood with a warning growl as he fixed his brother with a glower. “I’ve always been better than you. When was the last time you beat me at anything?” 

With clenched fists and gritted teeth, Lucifer stalked towards his brother and pushed into his personal space. “At least I didn’t murder Gabriel.” 

Michael recoiled in shock, eyes wide and slack-jawed. Hurt filtered over his features as he tried to step away from his angry brother, but Lucifer chased after him, scent spewing waves of challenge and alpha intimidation. Michael ducked his head and backed up again, only for the backs of his legs to hit the couch and Lucifer was suddenly in front of him again, invading his space and looking as though he wanted to hit Michael’s unbruised eye. 

“I’ll give you that, Michael,” hissed Lucifer. “You’re better than me at killing our brother.” He snorted in bitter amusement. “Wasn’t exactly a fair fight though, was it? You had a gun, he had paws and a tail.” 

Michael shook his head, a lump in his throat. “I never meant to… The bullets weren’t meant for Gabriel-”

“Doesn’t change the fact that he’s dead,” snarled Lucifer as he shoved at Michael’s chest until his brother fell onto the couch. “You’re nothing but a coward.” 

“I’m the coward?” Michael hissed furiously. “You’re the one who won’t take any responsibility! You were quite happy to kill Samandriel! You were quite happy to hurt our brothers and present them to our father! You’ve always been the most violent of us. Suddenly, you’re placing all the blame on me because I was the one to pull the trigger, but the truth is that you were ready to torture them when we first left for the forest. If anyone is a coward, it’s you.” 

“I’m not a coward,” snapped Lucifer as he suddenly snatched at Michael’s collar. “And I’m not violent!”

“You’re aggressive and sadistic,” taunted Michael as he gripped Lucifer’s wrist to prevent him from yanking on his collar. “Father has always been embarrassed by you. It’s why he put me in charge. He knew he could trust me. You solve everything with your guns, knives and knuckles.” 

Lucifer threw Michael against the couch in disgust. “The only reason Dad put you in charge is because you’re a suck-up. A weak, pathetic kiss-ass.” 

“At least I don’t get off on torturing people.”

“At least I didn’t murder Gabriel!” 

_“Enough!”_ Raphael yelled as he stood. He glared at his brothers’ surprised faces and tossed the bag of peas at Michael with enough force to startle him. 

“You’re both unbearable assholes!” Raphael snapped. “Who cares what our father thought of us? Who cares who held the gun? Our father abandoned us! We all played a part in killing Gabriel!” The younger alpha’s eyes began to shine suspiciously and he swiped at them roughly. “All of this has happened because we do nothing but fight and argue with each other. _We’re still doing it!”_

Raphael scowled at them both before dropping his gaze. “When we were children, we used to be a real family. Then Father started pitting us against one another. We’ve done nothing but hurt each other ever since. Now Father’s gone, we have a chance at fixing what he broke. Don’t keep comparing yourselves to each other. Stop trying to prove you’re the better alpha.” Raphael lifted his eyes and water glistened in his pleading gaze. “Please, just… stop fighting.” 

Michael and Lucifer fell silent as they watched their brother slink towards the staircase. No one said a word as the younger alpha disappeared from view. 

Slowly placing the bag of peas against his eye, Michael glanced up at his frowning brother.

“He’s right, you know.” 

For a moment, it looked as though Lucifer was going to storm away, but he took Michael by surprise when he slumped into the seat beside him. 

“I started to hate you when I was sixteen.”

Michael closed his eyes wearily. “I was eighteen then. Father was already pitting us against one another with those challenges he used to set.” 

A long moment of silence passed between them before Lucifer quirked a weak smile. “Gabe was twelve. It was the year he was suspended from school for hiding all that fish in Ms. Darlington’s classroom.” 

Michael laughed softly. “He hated her so much. He used to say that she had a reptilian form instead of a canine. He swore that she had a forked tongue.” 

“Are you surprised?” Lucifer snorted. “That woman was pure evil. She loathed every single one of her students. I remember when I was in her class. She gave me detention for asking another student what date it was; said that children weren’t supposed to speak in school unless spoken to by a teacher.” 

Michael furrowed his brows. “Did she? She was always so nice to me.”

Lucifer chuckled. “Of course, she was nice to you. You were always so perfect in school.” 

They lapsed into an awkward silence.

“Do you remember when Castiel was five and he and Gabriel painted themselves in red spots and told mother that they had chicken pox and couldn’t go to school?” Michael murmured. 

Lucifer barked out a laugh. “The paint was all over their beds!”

Michael grinned as he nodded. “Castiel always went along with whatever Gabriel said, even if he knew he’d get into trouble for it. They were near inseparable when they were children.” 

Lucifer smiled, but the expression soon faded as he recalled the rest of that day. “Mom smacked them both for it. She grounded them for two weeks and took away their favourite toys.” 

Michael’s grin faded and he stared down at his lap. “We should have said something,” he murmured quietly. “Mother and Father were always so harsh on them.” 

“ _We_ were harsh on them,” mumbled Lucifer. “They didn’t deserve the crap we put them through.”

“I miss them,” Michael confessed softly. 

Lucifer slid his gaze to the newly-replaced window. “Me too.”

“I wish I hadn’t taken that gun,” whispered Michael, voice beginning to shake. “I wish… I wish they’d just come home with us. I wish Gabriel was still…” 

Lucifer winced. “They were protecting Samandriel. They thought we were going to kill him.”

A whine left Michael’s throat before he could stop it and Lucifer shot him a startled glance. 

“We _were_ going to kill him,” Michael said bitterly. “When we first found out, anyway. And then we were going to marry Castiel off to that slimeball, Ketch and let him do what he wanted with the child.” 

“I thought Ketch was your friend?” Lucifer asked in surprise.

“He is,” sighed Michael. “But he would have killed Samandriel the moment Castiel signed the marriage certificate. He wouldn’t want to raise someone else’s child – especially an alpha child. I doubt he would have listened to our brother’s pleas.” 

Lucifer frowned. “I still don’t understand why the Winchesters didn’t kill the kid. Surely he’s competition for Dean’s own spawn?” 

Michael shrugged and shook his head tiredly. “I don’t know, but Castiel looked happy with them. Gabriel was willing to die for them…” 

Lucifer flinched and averted his gaze once more, and Michael continued to stare forlornly at his lap.

“I’m sorry,” Michael murmured. “For calling you sadistic.” 

A sigh fell from Lucifer’s lips and he shrugged a shoulder. “I’m sorry for calling you weak. You’re not.”

For a brief second, Michael contemplated leaning against his brother, in search of comfort. He decided against it and scowled at himself for being needy and un-alpha-like. 

They returned their attention to the TV.

* * *

Sunlight bathed the ground, warming the grass and the streams that flowed through the land. Trees stood tall and triumphant, their leaves painted with rich greens and their boughs laden with ripe fruits and nuts and seeds. Birds chirped beautiful melodies as squirrels searched for the perfect hiding spots to store their bounties. 

A small herd of Fallow deer grazed the lush grasses, their spotted coats creating a perfect postcard moment amidst the forest surrounding them. It was a serene day for the little herd. 

Suddenly, a blonde wolf leaped out from behind an elderberry bush and howled a war cry. The deer bellowed in fear and scarpered in the opposite direction, oblivious to the fact that they were heading straight towards the rest of the pack. As they thundered away from the blonde wolf, a group of wolves appeared from the shrubbery and the deer cried out in terror as they attempted to turn back. 

The group of wolves quickly gained ground and as the herd was forced to separate, a second group of wolves – most individuals larger and stronger than those from the first group – closed in on the deer. 

The first doe fell and one of the bucks called out in fury. It twisted back around and lowered its antlers as it aimed for a golden wolf with a floppy ear. 

Gabriel sprung out of the way with a squeak and raced between the stampeding deer as the buck whirled around for a second try. The does either side of him parted like curtains the moment they noticed him, and Gabriel yipped as the buck galloped towards him, antlers nearly skimming the ground. 

Before the buck could eviscerate Gabriel, a black and tan wolf leaped upon its back and it bleated in terror as it tried to dislodge its attacker. A moment later, a sandy and dark brown wolf sank his fangs into its rump. It slowed and kicked out at the second assailant, but Dean was quicker and scampered out of the way before returning for a leg. The buck made a wounded sound as Castiel wrapped his jaws around its neck and as it stumbled, Gabriel clamped his jaws around a forelimb and watched it collapse with a groan. Castiel quickly ended its suffering. 

Chest heaving, Dean raised his gaze to the retreating herd – too far away for his wolves to even consider chasing. He glanced around his pack with a proud grin and counted their spoils. Two does and a stag; a productive hunt. 

“Looks like we’re feasting today,” he called.

He was answered by a series of barks and wagging tails. 

“Thanks for the rescue,” Gabriel panted as he glanced between Dean and Castiel.

“No problem,” Dean replied before trotting over to his mate and scanning him for any injuries. Castiel lapped at a small cut on his alpha’s cheek, where a doe had clipped him with a sideways kick. 

Gabriel nodded and smiled at Sam’s approach. The chocolate omega smelled happy and bursting with adrenaline from the chase. The scent of strawberries was stronger than usual and Gabriel grinned at his lover’s energy – maybe they could find a fun way to tire him out later… 

Sam butted his head against Gabriel’s affectionately and the smaller alpha huffed before nestling under the omega’s chin and allowing himself to be scent-marked. 

“We’ll chow down here and take half a doe back for the rest of the pack,” Dean announced. “Dig in.”

The pack did as they were told. They ate leisurely, with each individual waiting for their turn and when there was only one doe remaining, they worked together to haul it back to their camp, where the pups, Bobby, Ellen, and Pam were waiting. 

As they watched the pups tuck in, Dean sat beside his mate. “The girls have already started their hunting lessons,” he commented. “Maybe Samandriel and Ben should join them? Small game. Rabbits, fish, that kind of thing.” 

Castiel hummed thoughtfully. “Who’s going to be their teacher?”

“Anyone who’s available I suppose,” replied Dean as he glanced around his pack. “Jo and Benny usually teach the bigger stuff. Crowley and Meg are probably our best small game hunters and they’re the ones who have been teaching the girls. Heck, Adam’s pretty good too. Maybe I should get him in on the action.” 

Castiel leaned into his alpha and nodded slowly. “If that’s what you think is best for our pups.”

Dean beamed. _Our_ pups. He would never get tired of hearing that. 

“They have to learn it at some point. Might as well have them learn it with the girls,” he reasoned. “Plus, it gives them something to do, right?” 

They watched the pups finish their meal and Castiel flicked his gaze to his lover with a fond smile.

“Okay, Dean. We can talk it over with them tonight.” 

A sly smirk crawled over Dean’s muzzle as he stretched. “Hey, maybe a couple of hunting lessons would do you good too, city mutt.”

He was promptly swatted over the head by a tan paw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sequel is finally here!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this one as much as the first!


	2. Chapter 2

_Novak Industries_ was a prodigious misnomer. This was because _Novak Industries_ wasn’t an industry at all – it was an enterprise. In fact, _Novak Industries_ was better described as a bank of sorts; one that offered tremendous loans to wealthy people and businesses, whilst charging an impressive amount of interest. Due to the Novak pack’s size, it wasn’t uncommon for some of these loans to be offered in actual people (particularly useful for sprawling companies like Starbucks) and interest was repaid in the form of favours or company shares and profits. 

_Novak Industries_ had not got to where it was by playing by the rules. It didn’t do nice and it never stood up for the little guys. To be honest, since leaving the forests (after that whole falling out with the Winchesters), the Novaks had toughened up, shaved off a few of their pesky morals and ethics, and had learned the art of always getting what they wanted, no matter the cost. 

They were a vast company with too many secrets (not all of them bloodless) and even their own family feared them. 

The family, of course, consisted mainly of employees and most hadn’t actually met a single Novak in their entire lives. However, they were still expected to refer to themselves as part of the Novak family, regardless of their own family name (which they were expected to renounce). 

_Novak Industries_ was extremely powerful and successful and all of the Americas knew their name, which was incredibly useful… if you were still considered part of the family. 

Raphael leafed through the client book. Then he glanced at the company’s finance book.

He rubbed at the bridge of his nose as a handy migraine blossomed behind his eyes. _Novak Enterprises_ wasn’t doing quite as well as _Novak Industries_ , mainly due to the fact that _Novak Enterprises_ had no clients and was steadily slipping into crippling debt. 

Nobody wanted to strike a deal with the three Novak sons who had been disowned. Well, no one with money, anyway. 

A few people had approached the company for loans, like family-run bar owners and a couple of small-time bakers, but these were turned away as they were hardly going to make _Novak Enterprises_ enough figures to rival their father’s company. 

And if they couldn’t rival their father’s company and prove to everyone that they were capable of taking care of themselves, then that would mean that all the insults were true. 

Raphael hated the insults. _The Novak kids are screwups. The Novak kids can’t do anything without Daddy and his money. The Novak kids are going to end up crawling back to Mommy and Daddy on their hands and knees. The Novak kids will never survive on their own – they couldn’t even keep their own little brothers in line. The Novak kids are filth – they deserve to die poor and alone._

Raphael shook his head as he grounded himself in the present. They would prove everyone wrong. They had to.

He grabbed the phone and dialled a number that he was well-acquainted with from working for his father. 

_Novak Enterprises_ was in desperate need of clients and if he had to poach them from his father, then so be it.

* * *

Shopping was a task that Lucifer loathed (unless it was for chocolate – a little-known fact about the alpha was that he had a sweet tooth almost as strong as Gabriel’s). The mundane motion of rolling a squeaking trolley up and down rows of identical-looking aisles, whilst attempting to dodge other dead-eyed shoppers was one of Lucifer’s least favourite necessities in life. If it was up to him, he would buy everything online and have it delivered, but last time he did that, Michael threw a hissy fit over a carton of smashed eggs. It wasn’t worth the headache. 

So, he shoved his trolley with the standard wonky wheel up the bread aisle and tried his best not to aim for the annoying child that kept jumping in front of everyone’s carts. 

“Lucifer!”

He paused, mid-way through tossing a second loaf into his trolley, and turned to face the man who had called his name. 

He was a short, stout beta and the many callouses littering his fingers gave the impression that he worked in some sort of manual trade. The ‘ _Tim’s Timber_ ’ shirt was a bit of a giveaway too. 

“Can I help you?” Lucifer asked as the beta continued to glower at him from six feet away.

“Tim,” growled Tim. 

Lucifer glanced at the logo on his shirt. “I see. Again, can I help you with something?”

Tim marched up to him, fists clenched. “You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked in the sort of voice that suggested he had never quite been able to graduate from Elementary school. 

Lucifer squinted at the beta’s face and his memory came up blank. “Have we met before?”

“You put my uncle in the hospital for not paying your Daddy’s interest.” 

Lucifer pulled a face. “I think you have the wrong person. We wouldn’t lend anything to a, ah… family-run timber company.” 

“My uncle is Jed Gulf, you entitled prick!”

Lucifer’s brows pinched together. He vaguely remembered Jed Gulf – bit of a sleazeball with too wide a grin. He was also as thin as a rake and held absolutely no family resemblance to his nephew. 

“Oh, yeah,” hummed Lucifer. “Worked at Flagster bank, right?”

“Fulton!” Tim snapped. “He was a director at Fulton bank!” 

Lucifer scratched idly at his chin. “That was it. Those guys never paid on time. Lend them a few million bucks and you got a few thousand back. They did that for years before Dad decided to send out a final demand.” 

The surrounding shoppers began a slow retreat away from Tim and Lucifer as the irate beta began to emit a stench of fury and determination. 

“Final demand?” Tim scoffed as he stalked closer. “You and a couple other alphas cornered him in an alley and beat him bloody. Then, you stuffed the _final demand_ in his jacket.” 

There was a round of disapproving murmurs amongst the surrounding shoppers. Lucifer slipped his hands into his pockets and shrugged. 

“He should have paid his debts on time.”

Lucifer staggered backwards as a fist collided with his mouth. His back smacked into a shelf and by the time he had straightened up, the beta was on him again, punching him hard in the solar plexus. 

Lucifer grunted and threw his own knuckles at the beta and Tim made a wounded sound before retreating.

Lucifer pulled himself upright again, suppressing a groan at the ache in his jaw. Tim could really throw a punch. 

There were a couple of gasps of surprise around him and Lucifer lifted his gaze to Tim, who was now holding a… a baseball bat? 

_Walmart_. He was at _Walmart_.

Lucifer flung his hands in front of his face as panic began to set in. “Hey, now… I was just following orders! My dad-” 

“Is a piece of shit!” Tim snarled. “And I’ll never be able to get to him with all his guards and all his money and the fact that he pays off all the cops! But you… Daddy doesn’t care about you anymore. And you have no allies and no family that I have to watch out for. So, since you put my uncle in a hospital, I’m going to put you in a morgue!” 

He raised the bat and, in a surge of confidence (or maybe adrenaline-controlled fear), Lucifer’s hand shot out and grasped the bat. He wrestled with Tim for a few long seconds, acutely aware of how close the bat was to connecting with his skull, before Walmart security rushed into the aisle and grappled the weapon out of Tim’s grip. 

Lucifer scrambled backwards when a security guard attempted to restrain him and he sent the other man a wide-eyed look, which was apparently enough for the guard to believe that he wasn’t a threat. The four guards set their attention on Tim, who was still struggling to regain possession of the bat and after about a minute, the guards had pinned him to the floor. 

“You’d better watch out, Novak!” Tim spat, despite security practically lying on top of him. “You’ve got no one to protect you now! All those people you treated like dirt? They’re gonna be after you. You’ll get what you deserve!” 

Lucifer straightened out his shirt and lifted his chin. “Your uncle worked for a bank. I don’t think you have room to talk about treating others like dirt.” 

One of the guards shouted in alarm and suddenly, Lucifer’s spine hit the floor. He opened his eyes and stared at toxic green eyes, a long black muzzle, and sharp canines that were uncomfortably close to his throat. 

Pulse kicking into overdrive, Lucifer froze and gazed upon the face that might possibly be the last thing he would ever see. Sweat rolled down the back of his neck and he barely registered the pain of four sets of claws and one hundred and seventy pounds of wolf pressing down onto his body. 

A deep growl erupted from its chest and its jaw flopped open as a green gaze locked onto Lucifer’s neck. It altered the angle of its head and seemed ready to swoop downwards, but security swarmed it once again and managed to wrestle it off Lucifer. 

Lucifer scrambled backwards, chest heaving and skin pale as he gaped at the snarling wolf determined to maul him. Less than a minute later, the guards had carted the wolf out of the aisle and out of sight and were most likely waiting for the police to arrive. 

Lucifer remained on the floor in a state of shock. His chest and legs ached from the wolf’s claws and he couldn’t stop the flashes of pearly white teeth in his mind’s eye. 

Civilised folk didn’t morph into their wolf forms in public. People who did were considered dangerous and unintelligent; the sort of people who couldn’t argue with their words, so argued with their claws instead. Civilised folk didn’t believe in behaving like a feral animal and that’s why they had so much more than the wild folk – more food, more money, better education, houses, jobs… wild folk didn’t have any of that because they acted on brutish instincts. They were the whole reason that the alpha/beta/omega stereotypes still existed. Civilised folk had advanced past all that. 

…So then, why had Lucifer just been attacked by a wolf in the middle of Walmart? Was the beta just savage or were people really so repulsed by him that they were willing to revert to baser instincts and claw him to death? Surely, he couldn’t be _that_ despised by the population? 

Glancing around himself, he began to notice that people were muttering about him. Not only were they refusing to help him up, it looked as though some were actually taking Tim’s side in the altercation if their expressions of disgust were anything to go by.Then he heard a murmur that made his blood run cold.

“Can he even keep that surname now he’s been booted out of the family?”

“Yes!” Lucifer snapped as he shakily rose to his feet and glared at the middle-aged woman who had whispered the comment. “I’ve still got Novak blood in me!” 

“Daddy clearly didn’t think so,” retorted the woman as she flipped her hair off her shoulder. “Although, you’re definitely as aggressive as the rest of that awful family.” 

Lucifer stiffened. He wasn’t aggressive. Why did everyone keep telling him that he was? Aggressive meant that he was no better than the wild folk. Aggressive was synonymous with stupid and Lucifer hated people thinking that he was stupid. 

And no way was he changing his name, his _identity_ , just because his dick of a father had disowned him. He wouldn’t let his parents dictate his life, not anymore. 

“I’m not aggressive,” he snarled, failing to notice the irony of his tone. A few customers stepped backwards, wariness rolling off them as they eyed Lucifer as though he was a wild animal. 

Lucifer clenched his fists before recognising the implications of the action. He growled to himself as he snatched his trolley and continued up the aisle, away from the crowd of mumbling customers. 

When he reached the end of the aisle, he realised that someone had purposefully smashed his eggs.

* * *

“Adam! Adam! Adam!” howled a chorus of pups as they pounced and attempted to suffocate their victim whilst he was sleeping. “Meg said it’s your turn to give us a hunting lesson!” 

Adam groaned and shoved Alex off his face. He attempted to roll over, but the pups merely scarped around to his other side. A pity; he had really been enjoying the warm sunrise that bathed his fur in soft pink and orange hues. 

“Couldn’t you have waited?” grumbled Adam as he slung a paw over his face. “Another couple of hours or so? When everyone is _awake_?” 

Someone chewed on his ear. “Bobby says that rabbits are crepuscular,” Claire huffed matter-of-factly. “Which means that they only come out at dawn and dusk.” 

“And it’s dawn, now,” Ben said helpfully.

“They don’t _all_ come out at dawn and dusk. Rabbits are lazy too, you know,” grumbled Adam. “Some come out in the daytime.” He grabbed the first available pup and arranged them into a pillow. He smiled at Samandriel’s amused scent. Out of all the pups, Samandriel made the best pillow – he wriggled less. 

“Adam,” Samandriel whined as the beta nestled on top of him. “Meg said you’d teach us.”

“Meg lied,” huffed Adam as he closed his eyes and snuggled into the black and white ball of fluff. 

“Adam, just take them hunting so we can all get some sleep,” grunted Bobby a little distance away. Summer was perfect for sleeping under the stars but since everyone was outside, it wasn’t so perfect for hosting private conversations. 

“Yeah, sure. Send me out at the ass-crack of dawn,” grumbled Adam as he stretched.

“You’re young,” huffed Bobby. “You’ll get over it.” 

“Lazy old mutt,” Adam muttered to himself as he clambered to his paws. A round of excited yips followed, accompanied by a half-hearted growl from Bobby. 

“Alright, come on,” sighed Adam as he slunk north of the camp, the pups bouncing along behind him.

They eventually came to a meadow rife with long, sun-kissed grasses and vibrant wildflowers. The air smelled sweet like honeysuckle and buttercups, and a few bees were already hard at work, jumping from one flower to the next. 

Adam sniffed the air, aided by the gentle breeze causing all the grasses to dance. There were definitely rabbits here – possibly an entire burrow. _Jackpot._

“Smell that?” Adam whispered. “It’s not sweet like the meadow and it’s not woody like the forest. It’s a bit… salty. And then there’s that other scent. The stronger one that burns your nostrils a little and makes you curl your nose. Almost like a hundred plants and fruit and vegetables all mixed together.”

The pups scented the air in exaggerated inhales and their tails began to wiggle.

“I can smell that one,” Ben said enthusiastically. “The stronger scent. What is that?” 

Adam grinned, “Fresh rabbit poo.”

There were various noises of disgust and Adam chuckled. “It gets worse as it ages, trust me. At least you know there are rabbits here. That and the salty scent are pretty good indicators.” 

He lay down and crossed his front paws. “Your job is to find them. Even if you don’t catch one, just try and scent one out.” 

The pups glanced at one another and challenging grins stole over their faces. Adam quirked his lips as he closed his eyes, basking in the morning sunlight as he listened to the sound of scampering pup paws racing into the grasses. Beside him, a doe rabbit popped her head out of the long grass and blinked at him in surprise. He huffed at her non-threateningly and she relaxed a fraction before disappearing back into the meadow. She knew that her family wasn’t at risk from these four pups and their older companion, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t return, hungry for her siblings. She would put her thoughts to the elders and maybe they could post a few more guards during the twilight hours. 

After a little while, there was a triumphant howl and Adam cracked an eye open before yawning. That had been a pleasant nap. He trotted towards the source of the howl and found Alex pinning a poor white kit to the ground. The kit stared up at her in pure terror as his mother alternated between grinding her teeth and screaming with stress a few feet away. 

“Good job,” hummed Adam as he approached. “Although, not much meat on that one.” He nudged Alex’s shoulder and she released her prey with a pleased wag of her tail. 

“Go on,” Adam murmured when the kit continued to stare up at them in paralysing fear. He huffed soothingly and nosed at the tiny rabbit until he managed to push him upright. The kit’s ears began to perk upright again and he slowly hopped away from Adam and Alex before noticing his mother and bolting for her and his siblings. The family darted away from both wolves and slipped into their burrow. 

Alex scratched at her ear. “Adam? Why do we let them go? They’re just rabbits.”

“Because we’re only training,” said Adam patiently. “We only kill what we need to survive. And rabbits have families too – every creature does. We can’t just kill grandfathers and uncles and mothers and sisters just for fun. It isn’t right.” 

“So, do we never kill anything during training?” Alex asked curiously.

“Only if we need to,” replied Adam as they heard Claire’s howl. “When we need food to survive. And only when you know how make a proper kill.” 

“A proper kill?”

Adam motioned for her to follow him and the pair of them made their way over to Claire. “A proper kill is one that doesn’t cause any needless suffering. For example, little prey like rabbits shouldn’t be in agony before they die. They shouldn’t have broken bones or missing ears because you didn’t kill them properly the first time. We aim for swift, clean deaths. Anything else is cruel.” 

“What if the rabbit is in pain before you get to it? Like… what if a bird got to it first and then left it?” Alex asked.

“In that case, you can end its suffering. Sometimes, mercy kills are the kindest thing for those in a lot of pain. If it’s not infected – if it doesn’t smell bad or look funny, that is – then its death won’t be in vain and we can eat it,” replied Adam as he glanced down at Claire’s victim; an elder rabbit who appeared more annoyed at the disturbance than frightened. 

“Well done,” he smiled at the pup before nudging her shoulder. The old rabbit kicked out at his nose and he jerked backwards as the grumpy buck ambled towards a burrow entrance. 

“I wish you Poodles would stop picking on the elderly,” snapped the old buck before he slid down a tunnel.

“Feel free to eat that one,” Adam winked at Alex, making her giggle. 

“If killing is kind for those who are in a lot of pain, why didn’t Dean kill Gadreel when the pack first found him?” Alex continued. 

Adam paused before a frown creased his features. “If it had been another pack or a different creature who had found him, they probably would have killed him. Dean though, he wanted to fix Gadreel. He was very kind to do that.” 

Claire frowned. “Then why don’t we try to fix other creatures who are in pain? Like rabbits?”

“Because they’re our prey and we eat them after we kill them,” replied Adam. “The pack wouldn’t have eaten Gadreel after they killed him, because he was a wolf, so his death wouldn’t really have meant anything other than to stop his pain.” 

Alex and Claire nodded slowly as their minds raced.

“Then why did Balthazar and Hannah rescue a fox cub in their old pack? Why didn’t they just kill it and eat it?” Alex scowled. 

Adam could feel a migraine blooming. Curse Meg and Crowley for making him take this lesson.

“Because the fox cub wasn’t in pain; it was just lost. Shifters don’t kill baby animals – not like the rest of the animal kingdom does.” If they asked _why_ , Adam was going to jump down a burrow with the rabbits. 

There was a pause as Alex and Claire glanced at one another.

“Why?” they asked in unison. 

Adam sighed. “Because we have morals where most animals don’t. We also have bigger brains and we need baby animals to ensure that all the different species continue. Without babies, the species goes extinct.” 

“If we have morals, then why do some shifters kill pups that aren’t their own? Like how Michael tried to kill Samandriel. Or how Raphael killed his mate’s pup because it wasn’t his,” said Claire slowly. Samandriel had told his friends lots of horrible things about his uncles. His friends were glad that he didn’t have to hide from them anymore. 

Adam’s ears flattened as he licked his lips. “Because some shifters are evil. Some of them think that hierarchy and tradition is more important than life.” If anyone ever decided to mate Jody and attempted to kill Claire and Alex because they weren’t of the same blood, Adam would tear them to shreds. No one would hurt his pups as long as he was alive. 

And if he had to face down the Novaks themselves to protect Samandriel, he would.

A frustrated huff caught his attention and he peered over the long grass curiously. There was a bit of rustling a few metres away and Adam herded the girls over to the ruckus, chuckling at the sight of Ben running head-first into a burrow. 

“Hey! Come back!” Ben yelled as he began to dig at the tunnel. Adam easily plucked him up and deposited him beside Alex and Claire. 

“How would you like it if someone started destroying our camp?” he teased. “Trust me, once they’re in the burrow, you’ve lost them. There’s a hundred different exits in this meadow and not a single rabbit is dumb enough to walk through the one that has your nose shoved into it.” 

Ben ducked his head embarrassedly. “I almost had him. He heard me before I could grab him.”

Adam smiled. “The task was to find one. You did that. Don’t worry about catching one just yet – remember, the girls have had nearly a year of practice at this.” 

“Claire was terrible when she first started,” said Alex haughtily. “She chased a stoat into a thorn bush! She looked like a hedgehog when she came out.” 

Claire scowled and swatted at the beta. “Shut up. You chased a duck into a pond. At least stoats can’t fly.”

Alex growled in challenge and Adam ignore the girls’ scuffle as Ben scarpered behind him. 

“I’ve not heard Samandriel in a little while. Has anyone seen him?” inquired Adam as he flicked his gaze around the meadow. 

“He was chasing a kit last time I saw him,” said Ben as he gestured East.

Claire perked up and sniffed the air. “I’ll track him!” She pressed her nose to the floor and trotted through the grasses, tail high and excited. 

The rest of the group followed her and soon enough, they found Samandriel sprawled over the floor with a big grin splitting his face. 

Lying contentedly between his paws lay five black and grey kits.

“Found some rabbits,” he said as he looked up at the rest of the group. 

The other wolves stared in bewilderment as one of the kits hopped onto Samandriel’s back. It was then that they noticed an adult doe curled into the pup’s side. 

“Momma, momma! His fur is soooo soft!” chirped the little kit that had leaped upon Samandriel’s back. “Are all wolves this soft?” 

The doe at Samandriel’s side chuckled and shook her head. “This wolf is special. He’s young and kind. You will never meet another wolf like him.” 

“Thank you, Doe Gwynygen,” smiled Samandriel. “Your kits are lovely, too.”

The doe shook her head in amusement before flicking a wary gaze to the other wolves. “We’d better get going. Stay kind, Pup Samandriel. We wish you safety and many sunrises.” She stood and clicked her teeth and all her young bounced to her side. She bowed her head to Samandriel and he lay his chin on the ground in return as he watched the little family bound away into their burrow. 

A moment of silence passed before Alex’s brows furrowed. “That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Adam slowly turned his attention away from the burrow to Samandriel. “…How did you get them to trust you?” 

Samandriel tilted his head with a fond grin. “One of the kids at school had a pet rabbit. I got an invitation to his sleepover because his mom felt bad about not inviting me. Because I didn’t really have any friends and the other kids weren’t all that nice anyway, whilst everyone else watched scary movies and played truth or dare, I slipped downstairs to play with the rabbit. I ended up shifting into my wolf form and we got talking. He was a really nice old buck. Taught me a lot about rabbit etiquette. He also taught me what _etiquette_ means.” 

Huffing out a disbelieving laugh, Adam shook his head. “Samandriel, you are the strangest pup I’ve ever met.”

Samandriel clambered to his paws. “That’s because you’ve never met anyone else from the city.” 

“What’s a _pet_?” Claire asked, scrunching her nose.

“It’s an animal you take care of. They usually live in your house, but some bigger animal like horses and sheep have to live in stables and farms,” replied Samandriel. 

Alex looked scandalised. “Why would you want to look after prey?”

“Yeah, isn’t that kind of mean?” agreed Claire. “Wouldn’t they just be terrified all the time?” 

Samandriel shrugged. “Not really. A lot of prey animals seem to cope with us in human form. Some even quite like being with humans. They get fed and watered and exercised and they never have to worry about predators. Some are really happy being pets, like that old buck.” He smiled. “And pets can be a lot of fun. You can play with them and cuddle with them and they can be your best friend. Our neighbours had a cat and I used to play with her all the time. She was awesome.” 

He frowned in confusion at the disturbed expressions on each of his friends’ faces. Adam tried not to think too hard about cuddling and playing with a rabbit. _How did that even work?_

“What?” Samandriel asked.

“You were friends with a cat?” Ben asked in a mixture of horror and fascination. 

“How about we practice our tracking skills?” Adam suggested before he began to question the sanity of civilised folk. “Something other than rabbits. Say… squirrels?” 

The pups quickly agreed and Adam led them out of the meadow and into the forest once more. He put his nose to the ground and sniffed around a little until he came across a spatter of dark, hard pellets. He sniffed at them warily and gestured for the pups to do the same. 

“Are they squirrel droppings?” asked Ben.

Adam shook his head and flicked his gaze around the forest floor. “Rat.” If there was one animal that he wasn’t a fan of, it was the rat. They carried countless diseases and all the rats he had come across were overly aggressive. He would remember that flank bite for the rest of his life; the blood hadn’t stopped pouring for over an hour… 

He nosed at the pups to keep them moving. No way was he letting some disease-riddled rat attack his pups.

“Dirty creatures, rats. Violent too. If you see one, walk the other way – don’t ever try to catch a rat and _never_ eat one.” He knew of a pup from his old pack – before his father had managed to get them both kicked out – who had been playing by a river and managed to kill an old rat. She ate it and two weeks later she started losing her appetite and seemed to struggle to stand. She drank a lot more and a few days later, her skin turned yellow and so did her eyes. She started to vomit a lot and she couldn’t stop shivering and she could barely breathe. Then on the ninth day… she never woke up. 

The pack medic called it _Leptospirosis_. Said it was the worst case he had ever seen. No one had been allowed to touch her once the symptoms started – not even her parents. 

“Adam!”

Claire’s alarmed shout and Alex’s low growl snapped him out of the memory. He glanced up and inhaled sharply at the figures advancing towards them at too rapid a pace. He scented the air and quickly shoved the pups behind him. 

Timber wolves.

He turned and pushed the pups in the opposite direction, urging them to run, but a deep snarl from the timber wolves made him freeze. He stood in front of the pups protectively and bared his teeth at the pack. If they decided to attack, he would have no chance, but he tried not to let his fear show. 

A dozen wolves came to a halt in front of them, their jet-black eyes flicking between Adam and the pups as they bobbed their heads and alternated between growling and huffing. Their ears flicked and twisted constantly, assessing their surroundings, and the biggest female wolf padded forwards and sniffed in Adam’s direction.

She suddenly jerked backwards with a sharp bark and bared her teeth, prompting most of her pack to do the same.

The pups huddled closer to Adam.

“Are you the Alpha of this small pack?” asked the female. 

Adam frowned and slowly raised his head. “This isn’t all of my pack and I’m no alpha.”

A series of barks and whines and growls were exchanged between the timber wolves. The leader looked irritated. 

“But you are of Shifter kind, yes?”

“…Yes.” 

“And these pups look to you as their leader? They follow you?”

Adam hesitated. “Yes, I suppose.” 

“Then Alpha, Beta, or Delta, it doesn’t matter,” said the timber wolf. She turned to her pack. “Shifter! Come to me.”

Adam frowned in confusion as the pack growled and barked at something slinking towards the front. His eyes widened when a male omega shifter stepped forwards, painted in coppers and blacks and various shades of browns that all seemed to mingle together to create a stunning coat too colourful to be natural. Adam had never seen fur so beautiful. 

“Yes, Alpha Dira?” asked the omega as he kept his head low.

The timber wolf leader, Dira, snapped at the omega and growled when he scrambled backwards. 

“Stay,” barked Dira before turning to her pack and ordering them to leave. When she began to prowl away, Adam looked at the whining omega in front of him and gasped as he realised that the timber wolves were abandoning him. 

“Hey!” Adam called. “Wait! You can’t just leave him! How is he supposed to survive without a pack?” The other omega looked no older than Adam and Adam knew for a fact that he couldn’t survive on his own – how was this omega expected to? 

Dira paused and twisted her head. “He is your problem now, Shifter. We will care for him no longer.” She continued to walk away and Adam glanced over at the omega, who was beginning to whine as his ears flattened to his skull. 

Adam swallowed thickly and bounded after the timber wolves. When they heard him, they turned sharply and snarled at him, ready to attack. He stood still; tail tucked between his legs to show that he wasn’t a threat. 

“You can’t just abandon him. You’re his pack.”

Dira let out a mighty snarl and rushed into Adam’s personal space until the beta was forced to back up. He stumbled and fell on his rump and Dira shoved her sharp canines into Adam’s face. Adam couldn’t stop the whimper that left his throat. 

“That Shifter has lived nearly three of our lifetimes and he still behaves like a pup. My great grandmother and grandfather took him in and when their spirits left this forest, their daughter and her mate took care of him and when their spirits left this forest, my mother and father took care of him. When their spirits left this forest, I took care of him, yet he learns so slowly and does nothing but waste our time. He is two lifetimes older than me, yet knows nothing about survival. He speaks in confusing ways and doesn’t behave like us. He doesn’t belong here and my family were foolish to try to force him into our life. He isn’t one of us.” 

Dira backed off a little and growled at the omega as he approached. “You will not be coming home with us. This is your Alpha now, Jack.” She gestured to Adam before howling at her pack. 

They suddenly turned and raced deeper into the forest. Dira looked ready to follow them. “Good luck, Shifter. You will need it with him.” She sprinted after her pack, leaving Adam alone with the abandoned omega. 

Adam stared after the pack with wide, stunned eyes before slowly spinning to face the omega – Jack, was it?

Jack bowed his head abruptly before creeping forwards and… licking Adam’s muzzle. 

Adam yelped and scarped backwards. “Dude!”

Jack frowned and lowered his head. “Forgive me, Alpha. Did I do something wrong?” 

“Adam’s not an alpha,” said Ben as he trotted over with the rest of the pups in tow. “He’s a beta. Can’t you smell that?” 

Jack’s brows pinched together. “A Beta? Forgive me. I just assumed that these were your pups. I didn’t realise that you weren’t their father.” He dropped to the floor and rolled onto his back. “I was the Omega of my previous pack before I was demoted from the position and told that I was to be given the title of Shifter. I understand if you wish to reprimand me.”

The pups looked at one another helplessly and Adam’s stomach began to sink. Had Jack been with timber wolves all of his life? Had he never had contact with any shifters? Where were his parents? 

“Um… Jack, is it?” At Jack’s nod, Adam continued, “My name’s Adam. I’ll uh… I’ll take you to the rest of the pack and you can talk to our leader.” Dean would know what to do. 

And if he didn’t, at least Adam wouldn’t have the headache of trying to figure out what to do with an omega who didn’t barely knew what a shifter was. 

“Thank you for your kindness, Beta.”

Adam grimaced. “I’m just… Adam.” 

Jack frowned but kept his mouth closed and it was evident that he didn’t fully understand.

This was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think updates will be Wednesdays and Saturdays (but don't hold me to that if I have a busy week with uni!) However, since I've written a few chapters, I'm going to update these first few a little quicker to get everyone back into the story :)


	3. Chapter 3

Novak Enterprises didn’t only suffer from a lack of customers; it was severely lacking in employees as well. No clients meant no profit and no profit meant that wages couldn’t be offered to any potential employees. 

Currently, the entire building was running on a skeleton crew, i.e. the three Novak brothers and a cleaning lady. What was her name? Ellen? Ellie? E… Eileen! Eileen… something. 

Raphael shook his head. It didn’t matter – she wasn’t exactly important.

What was important was the break-in from yesterday. 

Zachariah and Naomi Novak never had issues with robberies or destruction of property; mostly because of the beefy security guards that they employed to stand ominously outside each exterior door of their many, many banks and towers, each one looking colder and more murderous than their predecessor. 

The Novak brothers had one 150-year-old building that hadn’t opened its doors in three decades until the brothers had purchased it. It was beautifully designed and had been lovingly crafted out of sandstone, which had worn a little over the years. Its front hosted ornate carvings of horses, eagles, humans and other mesmerising swirling patterns and inside lay tall stone pillars and extensive marble flooring. It was gorgeous and had a traditional feel to it, and yesterday, someone had broken in and smashed a hammer into the old marble tiles. 

Fortunately, the Novaks had installed CCTV and the two youths were currently locked away in a cell. However, the damage had been done and sourcing an exact match for the tiles would be beyond difficult. 

Raphael rubbed at the bridge of his nose. His father never faced anything like this. His father never faced any hate crimes; anyone who tried was either locked away or faced a _creative_ punishment at Novak family hands. 

Not that Raphael particularly approved of dragging someone into a back room and having five muscular alphas beat them half to death with various implements of torture. 

Well, he didn’t approve of it _anymore_.

“How’s business been?” 

Raphael startled, slamming his knee into his desk and hissing in pain. He glanced up at Michael, wondering how long his brother had been standing in the doorway watching him stare solemnly at a small crack in the wall. 

“Dead,” Raphael sighed, rubbing his knee. “The only person who came in today was Ellie the deaf cleaner. We didn’t even have a request for a microloan. I came up here about an hour ago because I couldn’t stand looking at that empty hall any longer.” 

Michael closed his eyes and shook his head. “A dozen stations, ten tills, four private customer service offices and every single one of them empty. It isn’t exactly how I pictured our new life of independence.” 

“Dad’s clients are loyal to him. Or maybe just too scared to leave. Even the clients _we_ advised won’t move here – they told me that they won’t do business with a new company just starting out,” Raphael said. 

Michael snorted bitterly. “Hardly. They were never loyal to _us._ They’re big businesses who want the status that comes with associating themselves with the Novak family. They want allies and _Novak_ is a powerful name. They were thrilled to be working with the Novak sons before we were disowned. Now, they’re suddenly too busy for us.” Michael perched on the corner of the desk and stared glumly at the floor. “Face it, brother: we’ve fallen to the bottom branch of the power tree. Nobody wants anything to do with us.” 

Raphael’s gaze rolled over his brother’s hunched figure. He had never seen the older alpha look so defeated. His chest ached in a way he had never experienced before and he rubbed at it with a frown. His hand flopped back into his lap and he stared at it. 

“This isn’t working,” he whispered after some time.

Michael closed his eyes slowly. “I know.” 

“Maybe… maybe we could try something different? We could get regular jobs? Work for someone else’s company instead of trying to start our own?” Raphael suggested half-heartedly. 

“I’m not working for a bunch of fat cats who barely pay their employees a living wage. We are _Novaks_. We don’t work for other people,” scoffed Michael, deliberately ignoring the fact that at one time, he had been a fat cat who barely paid his employees. “We can’t just give up.” 

Raphael glanced around the empty office. Like Michael, he wanted their business to thrive. Unfortunately, judging by the multitude of spider webs decorating each corner of the room, it didn’t look as though that would be happening any time soon. 

“I’ve tried, Michael,” sighed Raphael. “I really have tried to get this business off the ground... but it’s been over two years and we have nothing to show for it. We’ve already lost over a quarter of our savings. Maybe it’s time to move on?” 

“If we quit now, we’ll prove Mom and Dad right,” murmured Michael. “We’ll prove everybody right. Everything they said about us not being able to look after ourselves… all those comments about us not being able to do anything without our parents… they’ll all know that we’ve failed. We’ll be the kind of screwups that they always said we were.” 

Michael turned to Raphael, a pained look in his eyes. “I don’t want our mother and father to know that they were right; that we can’t cope without them. They kicked us out of the family. I’d rather shoot myself than go crawling back to them.” 

Nauseated by the very thought of begging their parents for help, Raphael averted his gaze from his brother’s pleading expression. They weren’t screwups. They weren’t going to prove their parents, or anybody else for that matter, correct. 

“Lucifer?”

Raphael looked up at Michael’s surprised tone. In the doorway stood their brother, drenched from head to foot in something dark and foul-smelling. 

“Lucifer, what happened?” Raphael asked, standing up in shock and beginning to round the desk before he realised that it wasn’t acceptable for alphas to fuss over one another. He stood helplessly beside his desk. 

Lucifer shrugged, but he wouldn’t quite meet either of his brothers’ gazes. “Went out to get some gas. Couple of girls at the next pump recognised me. Thought it would be funny to drown me in gasoline.” He thrust his hands into his jacket pockets and they squelched loudly in the otherwise quiet room. 

The overpowering stench of fuel flooded the office and Raphael coughed a little.

“Why didn’t you go home and get changed?” Michael asked as he grimaced at the wretched aroma. 

Lucifer scowled at the floor and rolled his shoulders. “Forgot my keys this morning.”

It was a poor attempt at a lie and everyone knew it. 

Michael frowned. “Both Raphael and I watched you take your keys out of the bowl. You locked the door behind you this morning.” 

Lucifer narrowed his eyes angrily. “I must have lost them in the car, then. I knew you’d both be here, so I thought I’d stop by and ask to borrow yours instead.” Dirty black liquid dripped from Lucifer’s sleeves onto the marble tiles. 

“How are you so clumsy?” Michael asked incredulously. “Now we’ll have to change our locks.”

As Lucifer glowered at their brother, Raphael was suddenly hit by a wave of understanding. Lucifer hadn’t lost his keys. 

“That’s fine,” he interrupted before his brothers could start another one of their exhausting and pointless arguments. “I’m done here anyway. Follow me home and I’ll let you in.” 

Lucifer’s jaw clicked shut and he nodded at Raphael almost gratefully as the youngest brother shoved files and books hastily into his case. He snapped it closed and marched over to Lucifer, jerking his head towards the stairs. Lucifer hesitated and shifted his wary gaze to his older brother. 

“Michael? Are you coming home too?” he queried softly.

Eyebrows shooting upwards, Michael slid off the desk. “I was actually hoping to…” Whatever he had been about to say instantly died in his throat when he caught sight of the broken plea in Lucifer’s gaze. 

“Come home, Michael,” Raphael whispered. The _‘Our brother needs us but can’t say it,’_ may have gone unspoken, but it was definitely received loud and clear. 

“I suppose it can wait,” Michael said weakly, unaccustomed to anyone in his family genuinely needing him for anything that wasn’t money, favours, or orders.

Lucifer closed his eyes, relief rolling off his soggy frame.

Michael quickly joined them and his hand reached towards Lucifer before pausing and aborting the movement altogether. 

Raphael looked away. Sometimes he wished he had been born a beta so things didn’t have to be so difficult between him and his brothers.

They made their way to their cars.

* * *

“Dean.” 

The alpha turned at his half-brother’s call, pulling himself away from the light conversation he had been having with Castiel. 

“Adam, what’s up?” As he said the words, his attention was drawn to the intruder lingering by the outskirts of the camp. The other wolf was clearly a shifter; he had a striking coat and looked to be around Adam’s age, and he eyed the camp like a pup with endless curiosity. 

A frown creased Dean’s features and he felt himself tense up, ready to protect his pack. A lone shifter was always something to be suspicious of. 

“A pack of timber wolves just dumped him on me,” Adam hissed, looking strangely disturbed. “Told me he’d been living with them for eighteen years and that they were sick of him.” He risked a glance over his shoulder and the intruder wagged his tail when he noticed. Adam winced and whipped around to face Dean once more. “Dean, there’s something really wrong with him. He’s not… he’s not like us.” 

Sam chose that moment to slink over, steps hesitant as he eyed their visitor warily. “Did you make a new friend, Adam?” 

Adam shook his head hastily. “His name’s Jack. He was a _gift_ from a pack of irate timbers. He’s weird. He seems confused about what alphas, betas and omegas are.” 

The older Winchesters blinked in surprise and glanced at one another, so Adam continued. “All the way here, he kept bobbing his head and flicking his ears the same way timbers do and, get this, he said his old pack ‘demoted him from the position of omega’. How do you demote someone from their gender?” 

“Okay, that’s… that’s not the main problem here,” Dean huffed before narrowing his eyes at their guest. “He’s a lone, young omega who’s eying our camp like it’s a deer farm and he’s not eaten in three months. For all we know, he could be a siren.” 

Adam couldn’t hold back his snort. “Yeah, really don’t think he’s here to tempt anyone away from the pack. He acts like he’s never met another shifter before. In fact, he acts a lot like a timber.” 

“We don’t know that though,” said Dean sternly. “You shouldn’t have brought him to the pack. He knows where we live now.” 

“He was dumped on me by a pack of timber wolves!” Adam huffed. “I really doubt he has evil plans to lure any of us back to another pack of shifters. Those wolves ran away from him the second they got the chance. They obviously didn’t want him and I couldn’t just leave him alone in the middle of nowhere.” 

“He’s not our problem,” Dean pointed out. “Just because he’s alone, it doesn’t make him our responsibility. He could be dangerous – especially if he acts like a timber. We can’t just take in every stray wolf we come across. What if he’s not who you think he is and he ends up murdering one of our pack?” 

Adam’s ears flattened as he glanced at Jack again and Dean was satisfied with the knowledge that he had made the young beta think. None of them knew anything about this strange omega and Dean wasn’t prepared to let his pack pay the price of Adam’s naivety. Not that he was angry with the younger wolf; Adam’s heart was in the right place – he just didn’t have the experience that Dean had. Dean refused to let another Ruby slip into their pack. 

Having been silent up until that point, Castiel finally spoke up. “I was a lone omega and you took me in.”

Dean flicked his gaze to his mate. “That was different – you had a pup.” 

Castiel gestured over to Jack. “He _is_ a pup.”

“He’s Adam’s age,” Dean protested. “He’s not that much of a pup. Your case was different; you were on the run and you had nowhere else to go.” 

“He’s been dumped by the pack that raised him and has nowhere else to go. At least he’s not from a pack that has a history of being your most dangerous enemy,” Castiel countered. 

“Cas has a point,” Sam said as he regarded Jack carefully. “We could always just keep him on the outskirts until we feel that we can trust him. We can’t exactly just throw him out and leave him. If he really has been abandoned, he’s not going to survive on his own for long. Remember when Adam first came to us? He couldn’t even fight.” 

Adam nodded enthusiastically. “And without a pack, the most he can hunt is rabbits and maybe a fox if he’s lucky – and that’s if he even knows how to hunt.” 

Dean knew he was going to lose the argument but he ploughed on anyway because no other pack would be stupid enough to take in as many strays as the Winchester pack did. “Adam, no offense, but you weren’t a normal case. Most wolves can fight by seventeen. Dad had issues. Jack isn’t our responsibility.” He frowned at Sam. “And why are you okay with this? Adam and Cas, I can understand – they don’t have the same experience with strays that we do. But you… I thought you’d be wiser than that, especially after Ruby.” 

Sam grimaced but Dean refused to apologise. They couldn’t afford to be innocent and trusting when it came to the safety of their pack. 

“Most of our pack is made of strays,” Sam said eventually. “Adam, Cas, Gabe, Samandriel, Gadreel, Balthazar, Hannah, Meg… even Benny and Crowley. We either stumbled across them accidentally or they had nowhere else to go and we made friends with them and just sort of… adopted them. I know we had a bad time with Ruby, but everyone else has been loyal to us. Everyone else has become our family and I couldn’t imagine life without any of them.” 

Dean deflated as Cas smiled fondly at Sam.

“Back in the old days, packs killed strays, y’know. Competition for food and territory,” grumbled Dean, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. “They would’ve laughed at the idea of inviting them into the pack.” 

“Back in the old days, an omega’s only function was to have pups and it wasn’t uncommon for packs to have a group of breeding omegas that were used however the lead alpha saw fit. Lead alphas were also quite happy to kill any alpha pups in the pack that weren’t theirs, in case they tried to challenge the lead alpha or their pups. You sure you want to kill Samandriel and hold me, Cas, Jo, Charlie, and Hannah as breeding stock? Because I think there might be a few protests from the rest of the pack,” drawled Sam. 

Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Point made. I’ll go talk to our _guest_.” He slunk over to Jack and as he did so, he grumbled under his breath, “And Samandriel _is_ my pup.” He missed Sam and Castiel’s shared grins and held his head a little higher as he poured purpose into his stride. He had to make this new wolf respect him, after all. 

And if Jack feared him a bit too? Well, it would at least deter the omega from thinking about hurting any of his family. 

“My brother tells me your name is Jack,” Dean said with a raised, unimpressed eyebrow as the rest of his pack stared at the intruder with noticeable confusion and wariness.

Jack nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

Dean ignored the title. “Do you know which pack you’ve come to, pup?”

Jack nodded again. “A Shifter pack.”

Dean could practically hear the capital _S_. This omega really had been raised by timber wolves. He shook his head tightly. 

“We are the Winchester pack.” He was half-expecting the younger wolf’s eyes to bulge and his jaw to fall slack and a fearful whine to squeeze its way out of his throat – that’s what most wild folk did when presented with that statement. 

Jack merely blinked.

“Does that name mean anything to you?” Dean pushed. 

Jack shook his head.

Dean’s mouth drew into a thin line. “I see. Let me explain it to you. The Winchester pack has a reputation amongst shifters. Wild folk and civilised folk alike know the name. We’re a perfect team; we know each other inside and out. We respect and trust one another implicitly, which means that we’re the best hunters the best fighters. Other packs call us the wisest of the wild folk; some call us the most efficient.” 

Dean narrowed his eyes sharply and leaned closer to Jack. “Let it be known that we are also the most formidable when it comes to our enemies and those who cross us.” 

Whilst what he had said technically wasn’t a lie, he was also profoundly aware of the fact that most of his pack was comprised of loveable idiots.

But they were his loveable idiots.

Jack lowered his gaze, tail tucked between his legs and ears flat. Pleased that he had warned the omega enough of the consequences of betraying his pack, Dean lifted his chin. 

“I’m Dean Winchester; lead alpha. You’re welcome to stay in my pack for as long as you like, or at least until you give me reason to chase you out. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, Alpha.”

Dean nodded, satisfied and glanced around the rest of his pack with a pointed look that said _‘He’s safe to talk to’._

The pack collectively relaxed and Sam and Adam trotted over as Castiel gathered up the pups to question them about their new pack member. 

“Welcome to the Winchester pack, Jack,” Dean huffed. “Now, care to explain what you were doing with a bunch of tim-” Dean cut himself off when Jack crept forwards and began to lick his muzzle. Sam made a startled noise and Adam hid his laughter well. 

Dean reared backwards and narrowed his eyes at Jack. “Dude.”

Jack stared at Dean and lowered himself to the ground submissively, not quite catching the alpha’s gaze. “You’re most kind, Alpha.” 

Sharing a bewildered glance with Sam, Dean cleared his throat awkwardly. “Right. Listen, you don’t need to keep calling me _Alpha_. My name is fine.” 

“But you are my Alpha now,” Jack frowned and Dean nearly rolled his eyes at the capital _A_. “I no longer follow Dira and Kion. You and your mate are my Alphas.” 

Strangled sounds of laughter escaped Sam and Adam’s throats. Dean shot them each a glare before returning his attention to the confused Jack. _Curse timber wolves and their weird hierarchies_ … 

“Yeah, okay. See, Cas is my mate, but he’s not an alpha. He’s an omega, like you.”

Jack’s eyes blew wide and he ducked his head in confusion. “I… I don’t understand.” 

“Cas!” Dean yelled. Soon, there was the soft pad of paws on thick grass and Castiel took his place beside Dean, his signature head tilt on display. 

“Yes, Dean?”

“This is Jack,” Dean introduced. “Jack, this is my omega mate, Castiel.” 

Jack looked uneasy as Castiel offered him a polite smile. “Nice to meet you, Jack.”

Jack flicked his gaze between the pair before finally staring at Dean in distress. “But he’s male.” 

Eyebrows shooting upwards, Dean hesitated. That wasn’t what he had been expecting. “…Uh… yeah. He is. Do you have a problem with that?” 

Jack’s gaze flitted to the four pups now lingering beside Gabriel. He opened his mouth and closed it again before a frown pinched his brows. “How do two male wolves make four puppies?” 

Dean followed the beta’s gaze to the group of pups. “Well first off, two of those ain’t mine and one of them… one of them lost his mom and Cas and I kinda adopted him. Secondly,” he turned to Jack, “like I said; Cas is an omega and I’m an alpha. Add those together and you get a pup.” 

Jack looked utterly lost. “Why would an Alpha mate an Omega? Surely that would make the Omega an Alpha? And didn’t that anger the Betas and Deltas in your pack? How did you decide who would become the new Omega? Why do you let the rest of your pack make pups? Aren’t you worried about being challenged? And why-” 

“For shifters, alpha, beta, and omega are genders, not ranks,” interrupted Sam. “And in this pack, gender doesn’t define your place in the hierarchy.” 

Jack’s jaw clicked shut and he sat down, looking like a fish out of water. “That… doesn’t make sense.” He snapped his gaze to Dean and quickly lowered himself to the ground, ears flat. “My apologies, Alpha. I don’t mean to question you.” 

Dean was struck by a brilliant idea. “Get up, Jack. Tell you what; how about Adam here explains it all to you?”

Adam shot him an indignant expression, which went entirely ignored.

“You’ve got nothing else to do, right, Adam?” grinned Dean, tail beginning to wag at the glare of pure loathing Adam bestowed upon him.

“How am I supposed to-”

“Great. Hear that, Jack? He’d love to teach you about shifter culture,” smirked Dean. “You two have fun now.” As he turned away from their newest pack member, he winked at Adam and the beta subtly held a leg out so Dean would stumble over it. 

Jack looked horrified by the whole exchange.

“That was kinda mean,” commented Sam when they were sufficiently far enough away for neither Adam nor Jack to hear them. 

“Hey, Adam was the one who wanted to invite him into the pack. He gets to share responsibility over this,” huffed Dean. “Besides, might do him good to have a friend his own age. I’ll step in if things start going south.” 

“Would anyone like to explain to me why Jack appears so confused about the definitions of alpha, beta, and omega?” asked Castiel idly as Gabriel, Samandriel, and Ben plodded over. 

“Basically, timber wolves have this weird hierarchy system involving Alphas, Betas, Deltas, and Omegas. Since they don’t have secondary genders like we do, they use the names as ranks. Alphas are at the top, Omegas are at the bottom, Betas are the seconds-in-command, and Deltas have their own highly confusing, fluid sub-ranks that I’ve never been able to understand. That’s about as much as I know,” shrugged Dean. 

“Other than the Deltas, there’s only ever one male and one female of each rank,” supplied Sam. “Only the two Alphas are allowed to mate. The Omegas are the playful ones – the ones who keep everyone having fun. They’re also the ones who constantly get attacked or dominated by the other members of the pack. The Betas are the peace-keepers and the ones who move up to Alpha position if anything happens to the Alphas. They make sure every member of the pack is being treated fairly and they stick up for the Omegas if the Deltas pick on them too much. The Deltas have their own pecking order. There’s usually more than two of them and they constantly fight to keep on top. They pick on the Omegas a lot more because there’s a risk of them being demoted to Omega if they’re not careful. That’s what I understand anyway.” 

Gabriel frowned. “That sounds… complicated.”

“No wonder Jack was confused by our mating,” agreed Castiel as he glanced at Dean. The alpha nodded and licked his mate’s cheek tenderly. 

“I can’t imagine being an Omega for a pack like that,” Castiel said, shaking his head and leaning into Dean instinctively. “I hope they didn’t hurt Jack. Didn’t Adam say he had been an Omega for them at one point?” 

As Dean nodded, Gabriel scoffed, “Can’t be any worse that being an omega in the Novak family. Don’t forget the whole reason you ended up out here, baby bro.” 

Dean growled protectively and nuzzled Castiel’s ear as Sam subtly leaned into Gabriel.

“How could I forget?” Cas murmured as he closed his eyes and allowed Dean to fuss over him. “We’re safe now, though. All of us.” He cracked an eye open to smile at his brother, and Gabriel grinned back, wide and happy as Sam snuffled at his cheek. 

“That we are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had to do a little bit of research on wolf packs to understand the weird hierarchy they have - if you think it sounds confusing, that's because it is. 
> 
> Anyway... hope you're getting back into the story! Comments, constructive criticism etc. all welcome :)


	4. Chapter 4

Michael tore the front door open and skidded to a halt inside the living room. “Raphael?!” he barked, eyes wide and alarmed as he met Lucifer’s cool gaze. 

The other alpha stared at him from the couch, and Michael would have said he looked calm if it wasn’t for the rage and hatred that he could see bubbling in his brother’s gaze. He was twisted at an awkward angle, one arm clearly wrapped around something, but Michael couldn’t catch what it was because of the couch’s tall back. 

“Where is he?” Michael asked, not bothering to conceal the panic in his voice.

Lucifer slowly dropped his gaze and Michael could hear a steady growl rumbling in his chest. There was a soft whimper and Raphael’s bruised and beaten face appeared above the back of the couch.

The room flooded with the scents of fury and fear and heartbreak as Michael let out a choked noise. He rushed to Raphael’s side as fresh tears traced the dried tracks staining the younger alpha’s cheeks. 

“Six,” Raphael whimpered. “There were six of them. They took everything. My cards, my keys, my car…” A sob rattled out of his throat. “Michael, they took Mr. Willaston’s collateral. All that paperwork is gone. If he defaults, we could lose everything we’ve loaned him. We’ll lose millions out of our own savings. I… I’m sorry. I should have been more careful. I shouldn’t have let them corner me. I should’ve fought harder. I’m sorry…” His breath hitched and a soft wheeze was forced out of his chest. He grimaced; pain written across his features as he drew a battered hand to his stomach. 

“I’ve let you both down,” Raphael whined quietly. “I let them take everything and it’s going to cost us too much.” 

Michael was overwhelmed by the instinct to reach for his younger brother.

_Protectprotectprotect._

He longed to gather the younger alpha into his arms; to cradle his broken body to his chest and tuck Raphael’s beaten head under his chin. He remained where he was however, as alphas weren’t supposed to comfort one another. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Michael said weakly, scent brimming with anguish and poorly concealed soothing. “None of that matters, Raph. All that matters is you being here and alive.” 

Raphael began to tremble, tears falling faster as his wheezing gained speed. He cast his gaze to Michael helplessly and the older alpha shuffled closer as Lucifer patted his younger brother’s back in an awkward fashion. 

“I’m sorry,” Raphael babbled. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Michael murmured in a tone he hadn’t used since Raphael had been six years old – the day their father had first hit him. 

Raphael’s shudders worsened as he wrapped his arms around himself, scent flooding with pain and desperation. Michael wrestled with his inner need to hold his distraught brother.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Raphael finally whispered, eyes squeezed shut. “Everyone hates us so much. No one wants anything to with us. Mom and Dad don’t even call…” 

Michael carefully perched on the arm rest of the couch. “We don’t need them. We can do this without them.”

Raphael shook his head frantically until both Michael and Lucifer frowned at him. “We can’t,” Raphael whispered. “I never realised how much we were despised. Now we haven’t got the family name to protect us, everyone is desperate to make us suffer, or worse.” He looked down at his own battered body, closing his eyes at the memory of the six alphas cornering him in that alley and beating him bloody. He should have gone to a hospital but honestly, after learning how much everyone hated him, he didn’t trust the hospital staff not to ‘accidentally’ inject him with something. 

He had never felt this terrified in his entire life.

His brothers must have caught the spike of fear in his scent, for Lucifer gripped his shoulder gently as Michael leaned in closer. 

“We can’t do this without our parents or the Novak name,” continued Raphael, barely restraining himself from leaning into Lucifer’s steady hold. “Everyone was right about us. We’re useless. We can’t do anything on our own. We can’t even turn to anyone for help because everyone either wants us dead or locked up.” 

“Screw them all, then,” growled Lucifer as he squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll figure it out on our own eventually. We know how to run a business. We’re not stupid.” 

Raphael twisted around to stare at his brother. “It’s been over two years!” he said hysterically. “Mr. Willaston is our only client and I’ve messed that up for us! No one will do business with us because they hate us so much and we didn’t have a single loyal client when we were still part of the family! We _can’t_ do this!” 

“We _can,_ ” growled Lucifer. “We just need someone to give us a break.”

“But nobody will,” insisted Raphael. “Nobody will because we don’t deserve it. The things we did to people when we were still part of the family… Lucifer, everyone was _terrified_ of us. We weren’t only ruthless when it came to business, we were ruthless in everything we did. Castiel ran away because of _us_. We were going to _kill_ his son. My wife hated me after what I did to her boy.” 

Both Lucifer and Michael grimaced at that. Raphael’s beta wife, Lataesha, had been in a relationship before she met Raphael. The father had split as soon as she became pregnant and four years later, she met Raphael on a business trip in Barbados. She was efficient and intelligent and Raphael had been intrigued by her the moment she argued against him in the boardroom. She managed to wrangle a lower interest rate for her boss and as Raphael watched her leave with an otherwise all-alpha-male crew of directors, he knew that he had to have her. 

They married a year later and after four months, Zachariah told his son that the rest of the family was starting to snicker at him for providing for another alpha’s child. A week later, Lataesha wished that she had never met Raphael and for the next few years of the marriage, she made sure that he knew it. She visited her son’s grave every single day and not a week went by without his headstone seeing a fresh bouquet of flowers. 

“They loathe us because we deserve to be loathed,” murmured Raphael. “This is karma for every person we’ve ever hurt or bankrupt or left to suffer.” 

“I don’t believe that,” Lucifer huffed, recoiling from Raphael and pulling himself to his feet. “Karma doesn’t exist. We’re obviously doing something wrong.” 

“We’re horrible people,” mumbled Raphael. “That’s what we’re doing wrong.”

“No, we’re not,” Lucifer said through gritted teeth. 

“We’ve hospitalised people!” Raphael yelled frustratedly as he twisted to face Lucifer. “We’ve put people in so much debt, they now live on the streets! We’ve destroyed people’s lives, Lucifer!” 

“A lot of it was under Father’s instructions!”

“But not all of it!” Raphael snapped. “We did a lot of things under our own initiative. We made people suffer and we were _good_ at it. In fact, we were the best in the family at making a profit, regardless of the cost to our clients. We treated everyone like shit!” 

Raphael dropped his gaze. “Including each other.”

Lucifer looked winded as all the fight suddenly drained from him. “We’re brothers. Brothers are supposed to give each other a hard time.” 

“They’re not supposed to draw blood,” Raphael whispered. “Not the way we did. You and Michael never stopped fighting. You despised each other. You’re still not entirely comfortable around one another, even now.” 

“That’s not true,” Lucifer murmured, but the awkward way he shifted his weight spoke volumes.

“You’re always arguing,” Raphael huffed quietly. “I don’t think you can go a day without snapping at each other.” 

Lucifer fell silent.

“All we ever did was scrap and try to prove we were better than each other. We each wanted Father to recognise us as the better alpha. We thought Castiel beneath us, merely because he was an omega. We constantly picked on Gabriel because he was smaller and had ‘too sweet a scent for an alpha’. How many times did we beat him into submission? He wasn’t interested in leading the family business, yet we still laid into him. No wonder he ran after Castiel,” Raphael whispered with an aching heart. “We’re selfish and cruel and we deserve everything that’s been done to us these past couple of years.” He gestured to his battered body. 

Lucifer opened his mouth, then snapped it shut again with a deep scowl. His body tensed, ready for a fight, and he clenched his fists. “Screw you,” he hissed before whirling around and storming upstairs. 

A door slammed and Raphael winced. He made to crawl to his feet but Michael, who hadn’t said a word so far, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“Let him go,” he murmured.

“I’ve upset him,” Raphael fretted. 

Michael rounded the couch and sat beside his younger brother. Raphael closed his eyes and focused on the familiar smell of freshly-baked bread and black pepper. His big brother had such a soothing scent when it wasn’t soured by fury or disgust or smugness.

“Why is he so angry all the time?” asked Raphael when a few minutes had elapsed.

A drawn-out sigh fluttered out of Michael’s lips as he clasped his hands over his lap. “Mother and Father have never treated him well.” 

“Mother and Father never treated any of us well.”

“True,” hummed Michael. “But Lucifer was constantly compared to me from a young age. There was quite a gap between you and me, but Lucifer was always ‘second best’. I was ahead of him by two years and yet, he was always told to be more like me. Do you remember those challenges Father used to set?” 

Raphael nodded. He remembered every single one of them – particularly the ones that pitted him and Gabriel against one another. At the time, he had relished them; now, he wished he hadn’t taken part in any of them. They marked the beginning of all the fighting, all the yelling, all the hatred. 

“Father started setting Lucifer and I against each other when I was fourteen. Lucifer had a string of losses over that year and Father humiliated him in front of some of the family – told him he was useless and weak,” Michael murmured. 

Raphael furrowed his brow in surprise. “If you knew, why didn’t you say something?”

“I did,” sighed Michael. “I told Father, in private, that I didn’t think it was right what he had done to Lucifer – after all, I had two years on our brother and it was obvious that I would beat him.” 

“What happened?” asked Raphael softly when Michael appeared reluctant to go on.

“He belted me across the room,” Michael mumbled. “Told me that one should never question a head alpha’s decision and if I wanted to take over the family, that was a lesson I would have to learn quickly. Father explained that he had humiliated Lucifer in order to motivate him into trying harder to beat me. I left the room with a split lip and a black eye and I never stood up for Lucifer again.” 

Raphael lowered his gaze. He knew their father’s short temper all too well. “Did you ever tell Lucifer?”

Michael exhaled wearily. “No. After that, Lucifer became more aggressive and he began to resent me. He didn’t want Father to think of him as weak and he realised that he wasn’t going to get any sympathy from me.” Michael closed his eyes and lowered his head. “Try not to blame him too much. He has always had to take care of himself since he could never rely on support from anyone else.” 

“None of us had support,” murmured Raphael, daring to edge closer to his older brother.

For a silent moment, both alphas sized each other up, appearing uncertain how to proceed. Then, with great hesitance, Michael cautiously slipped an arm around his brother and Raphael leaned into his shoulder stiffly. 

Michael quickly pulled away. “Sorry. That was inappropriate.”

Swallowing thickly, Raphael shook his head and carefully settled against Michael’s shoulder once more, scenting at his brother as subtly as he could manage. 

“Only because civilised culture has made it so,” Raphael whispered as a sense of safety crept up on him. “Nobody complained when we were fighting our way through that snow in the wild. We could lie beside one another then without people deeming us weak and un-alpha-like. Why should it be any different here?” 

Cocking an eyebrow, Michael cautiously slipped his arm around Raphael once more. “You… enjoy this? You enjoy us being… close?” 

Raphael immediately realised his mistake and tensed up. He had been foolish to assume that his brothers had secretly enjoyed their affection towards each other in the wild as much as he had. Perhaps he really was a weak alpha… 

“I… I never meant to imply that… We’re both alphas and I understand that it is entirely wrong and perverted and _pathetic_ for us to even consider-” 

He snapped his mouth when Michael began to recoil and he twisted his head to glimpse the hurt expression that flickered over the older alpha’s face. It was gone quicker than he could process and Michael’s cold façade slid back into place. 

“If you feel so strongly about your brothers trying to comfort you, then you should’ve said-”

“I don’t,” Raphael interrupted quickly before bracing for the hit that was sure to follow for cutting off a lead alpha. Then he scowled at himself because things had changed since they had left the family – there was little need for violence between them anymore. 

Michael eyed him warily and Raphael slowly curled his fist against his brother’s shirt, wrestling with the urge to latch onto his big brother and ignore the world for a while. 

“I miss the wild for how close it brought us,” Raphael admitted nervously. “I know I’m not supposed to admire anything about the wild, but I enjoyed being able to show my brothers affection without being judged for it.” He averted his gaze. “Perhaps that makes me something less than an alpha.” 

Michael was silent for a long time, merely watching as Raphael sank lower and lower, his scent souring with worry and anticipation. 

“Perhaps,” Michael said slowly, as though contemplating the words as he spoke them, “we should return. Temporarily, of course.” 

Eyes widening, Raphael whipped around to face his brother and Michael startled at the sudden change in position. 

“Return to the wild?” Raphael asked in bewilderment. “For what purpose? For how long?”

Michael shrugged. “Until we decide it’s time to come back.” 

Raphael felt his jaw slacken. This was… out of character for his brother; spontaneity and rash decisions weren’t Michael’s usual style. Michael liked to plan and calculate and work everything out until not a single detail was left unaccounted for. His brother didn’t just… up and leave. 

“Why?” Raphael queried. “Why now?”

An amused smile quirked Michael’s lips and it looked so out of place on his brother that Raphael blinked. 

“Why not?” Michael countered. “Our life here is a disaster. Nothing is working, everyone hates us. We only have one client who probably won’t trust us now we’ve lost his paperwork, and we have no staff apart from a lone cleaning lady. Why not just… leave?” 

Raphael felt as though his eyes might drop out of his skull. “Michael, that’s insane. We nearly died last time. Why on Earth would you want to return?” 

Michael chuckled and offered him a boyish grin that Raphael remembered from their childhood. He jumped when Michael squeezed him lightly.

“No work, no bills, no debts, no rumours about how useless we are… no Mother or Father,” Michael reasoned. “Just the three of us and miles upon miles of forest to explore. Think of it like a holiday. A break from all the chaos here.”

Raphael’s heart beat a little faster at the idea. They could just… disappear and no one would be able to follow them. He shook his head even though the butterflies in his chest fluttered their wings with excitement. “We nearly died last time,” he repeated.

“Last time, it wasn’t just the three of us. This time, we don’t have a goal. We wouldn’t be going under Father’s orders. We wouldn’t be on a time limit. We’ll only have each other to look after,” Michael said, eyes sparkling.

A laugh burst from Raphael’s throat at the sheer stupidity of the whole suggestion. This was so unlike his brother. And so unlike himself for actually contemplating this hair-brained scheme.

“What about the house? The cars? The bank?” Raphael asked.

“Screw it,” grinned Michael enthusiastically. “Screw all of it. Let’s just go. Let’s do something fun and wreckless. Everyone’s so intent on insulting us and telling us that we can’t do anything without our parents… let’s prove them all _right_. Let’s show them that we’ve finally cracked. Let’s show them that we only need each other to be happy.” 

A grin swept across Raphael’s face. “Imagine Father’s face when he hears that his alpha sons have all finally lost it and gone to prance around the forest and howl at the moon. Imagine the _disapproval._ ” 

Michael snorted. “Imagine the _embarrassment_. All five Novak sons running away from the city to live in caves and chase rabbits all day. He’ll hate us. He’ll never speak of us again.” 

“Good,” huffed Raphael and he meant it. Their parents had abandoned them; Raphael wouldn’t spit on them if they crawled out of the depths of the underworld still burning. He wanted nothing to do with either of them. His smile wavered as he slid his gaze to the stairs. “…What if Lucifer doesn’t want to leave?” 

Michael’s grin faltered as he cast his eyes to the stairs as well. “The best we can do is ask him.” He turned his warm gaze upon Raphael. “You truly want to do this?” 

Raphael’s lips twitched upwards and he nodded. “When do we leave?”

Michael’s blue gaze sparkled with delight and he smoothed a protective hand down Raphael’s bruised back, which the younger alpha couldn’t help but lean into. 

“Once you’re healed, we’ll leave. We’ll leave everything behind and we’ll find our own way,” Michael rumbled.

“If Lucifer agrees to it,” Raphael nodded. 

Michael hummed and boldly tugged Raphael into his side, which had the younger alpha sighing in relief as he lay against his older brother’s shoulder.

“If Lucifer agrees to it.”

* * *

“Dad! Dad! We tracked a fox today!” 

Adam chuckled to himself as he watched Samandriel and Ben race over to Castiel to tell him of the morning’s hunting lesson. Alex and Claire trotted over to Jody soon after and Adam stretched lazily under the warm morning sun. It had been a very successful lesson and he was glad that the pups had enjoyed it. He could grow quite accustomed to this teaching schtick. 

As Bobby scratched idly at his ear, Adam began to make his way over. The old alpha had promised him an embarrassing story of Sam and Dean as pups and Adam was not about to let that opportunity slip away. He loved teasing his brothers and since he hadn’t been around for most of their lives, he had a lot of teasing to make up for. 

Suddenly, something pounced on his back, a low growl by his ear as claws grazed his sides. He stumbled and snarled sharply as he whipped around and snapped at the face of his brazen attacker. 

Immediately, the rest of the pack were on high alert, ears facing forwards as they focused on the altercation. A few growled instinctively, ready to protect Adam from whatever had struck him, but they paused in confusion at the sight that greeted them. 

Jack lowered his chest to the ground, tail wagging playfully as he stared up at Adam.

The beta frowned and turned to face him fully, ready to demand why Jack had attacked him, only for Jack to lunge forwards again with a growl and knock Adam off his paws. Adam quickly leaped to his feet and scrambled out of the way of Jack’s jaws, but the omega shot towards him once more and tackled him to the ground, paws outstretched and gripping Adam’s sides. He nipped Adam’s paws before bouncing away and lowering his chest to the ground once more, tail wiggling and tongue lolling. 

Adam scrambled upright and growled warningly at Jack as he backed away from the omega. What was this idiot doing? Why did he keep attacking him? From the corner of his eye, he could see a worried Sam and Dean edging closer. 

“What on Earth are you-”

Adam was cut off as Jack pounced. They slammed into the floor and Jack nipped at his tail. It didn’t hurt, but the shock was enough to make Adam yelp and a snarl tore from his throat before he snapped at Jack’s leg in a desperate attempt to scare him away. Jack grunted and twisted until he could close his jaws around Adam’s ear with a deep growl. 

There was the sound of panicked running, and Adam surged upwards to clamp his teeth around Jack’s muzzle. A startled noise was ripped from Jack and he scrambled backwards as Adam rolled to his feet and raised his hackles at the other teen. 

A second later, Sam and Dean were by his sides, baring their teeth at Jack angrily.

They stared in bewilderment as Jack instantly dropped to the floor and rolled onto his back; a whine on his lips. 

“…What are you doing?” Dean asked incredulously.

Jack remained on his back. “Adam said I was an Omega,” he replied, as if that clarified everything. 

“You are,” frowned Sam. “But why did you attack Adam?”

Jack paused then slowly rolled over when he realised that no one was approaching him. He stayed on the ground. “It’s my duty as Omega to keep the pack in high spirits.” 

“So, you thought it’d be fun to attack me?” Adam hissed.

“I was offering to play,” Jack frowned before looking around the rest of the pack. “Shifters do play, right?” 

“Yeah. Tag or tug of war or hide and seek or anything else that doesn’t involve us randomly assaulting and threatening each other!” Adam snarled, prowling towards Jack with his teeth bared. 

Sensing that he was likely about to be attacked, Jack rolled onto his back once more with a whimper.

Adam halted and stared down at the omega in irritation. “What is your problem? Why do you keep rolling over?” 

“You are the pack Beta,” Jack said quietly. “I shouldn’t challenge your authority. I’m merely an Omega.”

“I’m _a_ beta,” huffed Adam. “Like I’ve already told you: I don’t have any authority. Dean is lead alpha, Sam is second-in-command, Gadreel is third. Why is that so hard to understand?” 

Jack scowled. “I thought you said Sam is an Omega?”

“He is.” 

“Then how can he be second-in-command? The Beta is second. That’s you.”

Growling softly, Adam looked to his brothers for help. Sam and Dean smirked back at him and Dean even had the audacity to wave a paw at him as though saying _‘Go on’_. He whirled around to glare at Jack. 

“Alpha, beta, and omega are genders, _like I keep telling you_. No one has any authority over each other unless it’s Dean or Sam and occasionally Gadreel if he’s been left in charge. You’re an omega, but that doesn’t make you bottom of the pack hierarchy.” He narrowed his eyes and stalked towards the omega. “You’re at the bottom of the pack because you’re an intruder and we don’t know if we can trust you.” 

“Adam!” Sam reprimanded.

“Well, it’s true,” huffed Adam. “We all know it. And, considering he’s just attacked me, he should know it too.” 

“…I’m sorry,” Jack said with a confused frown. “I thought I was inviting you to play. That’s how it was done in my old pack.” 

“Yeah? How’d that work out for you?” Adam sneered, testing the paw Jack had nipped. That would be bruised tomorrow. 

“Mostly okay,” Jack replied as he stood, keeping his head low. “Except for when they decided that they didn’t want to play and ganged up on me. They could bite really hard.” 

An awkward silence settled upon the Winchester pack as they stared at Jack in stunned horror. Jack glanced around the shocked faces. 

“Well, I _was_ the Omega,” he reasoned quietly. “They had to keep me in my place sometimes otherwise the pack might’ve demoted them. The whole point of an Omega is to be dominated.” 

“That’s really messed up,” Gabriel whispered so loudly to Castiel that the entire pack heard him.

“That’s not…” Dean began when Adam backed off in disgust. He shuddered at the idea of an omega being assaulted and bitten into submission by the rest of the pack. “We don’t do that here. That’s a… regular wolf thing, not a shifter thing.” 

“Or a Novak thing,” Gabriel whispered loudly again, prompting Castiel to shove him with a shoulder.

“Oh,” said Jack after some time. “Then, what do Omegas do in Shifter packs, Alpha?” 

“Dean,” he corrected gently. “And they can do whatever they like, the same as the rest of us.”

“But they can’t attack other wolves,” growled Adam. 

Understanding that he had upset the beta, Jack’s ears flattened and he sunk to the ground again. “Sorry, Beta. I’ll try to do better in future.” 

Adam wrinkled his nose and shook his head before trotting away. He was going to put as much distance as he could between himself and that weird omega.

Hopefully, Jack would be gone soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack's already causing troubles ;)
> 
> Bear with me - I promise we'll get Destiel and Sabriel scenes. I've just got to set the scene with Jack and the Novaks!


	5. Chapter 5

The sun blazed down on their fur as the lush grass tickled their skin. The refreshing scent of vegetation and earth curled around them, slinking around the woods on the gentle breeze that caused vibrant flowers and rich green leaves to flutter and rustle. Tiny birds chirped melodically to each other as they flitted between trees and fuzzy bees bobbed from plant to plant, their continuous buzzing relaxing on the ear. 

“This is the stupidest thing we’ve ever done,” grumbled Lucifer, attempting to squash an innocent beetle and missing entirely. 

“If that’s the way you feel, you’re quite welcome to return home and leave Raphael and I to enjoy our break,” Michael commented; his white fur shining brilliantly under the sunlight. 

Once Raphael had healed after being mugged and beaten, he and Michael had offhandedly asked Lucifer what he thought about taking a holiday. Oblivious to their meaning, Lucifer had agreed and Raphael and Michael had sprung their idea on him, saying nothing as his face contorted through various expressions of horror and disbelief. Lucifer protested vehemently, but Michael and Raphael eventually managed to convince him to at least consider the idea. 

Lucifer hated the whole plan, but it became clear that he had no intention of straying from his brothers’ sides and although he had complained the entire journey out of the city, he had stuck by his brothers no matter where they dragged him. It was almost as though he couldn’t stand the thought of losing them. 

“And leave you two morons to wander off on your own and get lost?” Lucifer huffed. “I need to be here just to keep an eye on you both.” 

Raphael and Michael shared a knowing smirk.

“It’ll be fun,” Michael said, tail lifting higher the further they delved into the forest. “A relaxing break from the stress of the city.” 

“We’re going to die,” Lucifer said blandly.

Raphael bit back a laugh. “We’ll be fine. We’ve done it before.” 

“Yes, and we nearly died,” Lucifer argued. “Twice. Dick Roman saved us from starvation and hypothermia the first time and the second time, we got beaten to a pulp by the Winchesters. What if we come across another pack, huh? There’s _three_ of us. We’re going to end up as breakfast for the vultures.” 

Michael rolled his eyes. “We’ll manage, brother. We were under Father’s instruction last time and we were naïve. We knew nothing of the wild. We have practice now. We’ve already learned how to fight like the wild folk and we know when to run. Everything else we’ll just have to learn along the way.” 

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “Like hunting? Fishing? Learning the difference between edible berries and poisonous ones?” he asked drily. “We’ve brought nothing with us except this bag of toothbrushes and band-aids I’ve somehow been tricked into carrying for you both.” He gestured to the sac strapped under his right forelimb and around his chest as it wobbled haphazardly between his shoulder blades. 

“Rabbits aren’t that hard to catch,” Raphael shrugged, nodding to a lone doe rabbit nibbling at a dandelion a little distance away. “Dick said that even children can catch rabbits.” 

“Oh yeah?” Lucifer drawled. “Then go catch it. Prove to me how easy this is.”

Raphael shook his head and trotted towards the rabbit. “Fine. I will.” 

Michael and Lucifer slowed to a stop as they watched their younger brother lower himself to the ground and prowl towards the small creature. When he came within six metres of the doe, she pricked her ears up and stared right at him. With the grass being only a few inches high, it wasn’t hard to miss his black and coffee-coloured fur. 

He took one cautious step forward and she bolted, scarpering off into the shrubbery before he could blink.

“Good work, bro,” scoffed Lucifer as Raphael slunk back over to his brothers. “I can see we’re in the hands of a professional.” 

“Shut up,” grumbled Raphael. “That rabbit had… sensitive ears. Next time will be better.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Sensitive ears?” 

“Stop your complaining, Lucifer,” huffed Michael as they continued their journey. “We just need a little practice. We can be vegetarians until we refine our hunting skills.” 

“Don’t think I won’t eat you if you die before me,” grumped Lucifer.

“That’s disgusting and I have no idea how we’re related,” muttered Michael. “Just be grateful that it’s summer. At least the weather is in our favour this time.”

* * *

Lighting crashed across a pink blossom sky, highlighting the grey clouds as they massed together above the treetops. Thunder rumbled across the land, scattering woodland creatures into hiding as large droplets of water pelted the earth and foliage, turning the ground soft and soggy. 

“I hate thunderstorms!” Hannah exclaimed as her long raven locks frizzed and plastered to her face in thick, wet, ropey strands. Water cascaded down her pale skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake and she shuddered slightly as the wind pummelled the tree she was sheltering under. 

Balthazar gently tucked her drenched hair behind her ears as Gadreel plastered himself over her back to keep her warm. She smiled at her lovers and they peppered kisses over her face, neck, and shoulders as they brushed tender fingers over her bare skin. 

“They make you look very sexy though,” purred Balthazar as he carded his fingers through her hair, water dripping down his body and catching on his eyelashes. 

Hannah sighed as Gadreel massaged her breasts and an encouraging sound fell from her lips as Balthazar squeezed the swell of her ass. She melted between them as they painted her skin with kisses and affectionate nips, and she pressed back into Gadreel’s body as she tugged Balthazar against her, wanting the three of them to be as close as physically possible. 

Their knots began to swell inside her as they thrust into her, slow and hard, and a wrecked sound spilled out of her throat as Balthazar began to lick and suck at her nipple. Behind her, Gadreel gripped her hips and scraped his teeth over her neck before sucking a possessive bruise into it, marking her as his. He soon turned his attention to Balthazar when the other alpha latched onto her opposite nipple, and Gadreel squeezed at her plump breast as Balthazar worked, growling in approval as the smaller alpha laved his tongue over the pink nub. 

Their knots fattened, pressing insistently against her walls as they rubbed against one another, their movements aided by her sweet slick. 

A breathy whimper tumbled from her lips and her alphas growled possessively in unison, surging towards her neck and kissing and nipping her until her pale skin was littered with tiny red marks. 

With their knots almost at full size, she released a long groan and squeezed her eyes shut. She loved it when they took her together; there was nothing quite like the feeling of her alphas’ knots fighting for space inside her. She was so _full._ She ached from the stretch, but it felt incredible and she purred at the idea of her alphas being locked inside her like this; right where they belonged. 

Her alphas shifted and she cracked an eye open to watch them share a heated, filthy kiss over her shoulder. Balthazar clutched Gadreel’s hair as Gadreel splayed his hand wide over the other alpha’s back. They lapped into each other’s mouths messily and when they drew apart, their lips were reddened a shiny with spit. Hannah made a sound of approval and they immediately thrust deeper into her, watching her mouth fall open as they stretched her further, their knots taking up more space than they had any right to. 

Slick gushed out of her, coating her thighs and her alphas’ knots, and she whimpered quietly as her release swept through the rest of her body. Balthazar and Gadreel were there to catch her when she fell limp against them and they nuzzled her cheeks lovingly as she clenched around them, causing them to spill into their condoms with quiet whines. 

She kissed each of them and they nuzzled and nipped at her neck and jaw in a pointed claim. She marvelled at how they shared her and easily bared her throat to them, smiling at their delighted huffs. They took turns in kissing and sucking at her throat and she held them close as they fussed over her, sighing happily at their contented scents. 

They barely felt the cool rain as they shared each other’s body heat and they snuggled and traded tender kisses under stormy skies until Gadreel and Balthazar’s knots began to return to their normal sizes. 

They sunk to the ground, uncaring of the damp soil, and Gadreel pulled his lovers into his chest protectively as they watched the lightning fork through black clouds. Balthazar and Hannah cuddled into him as they watched the landscape flash white. 

“I love you both so much,” Hannah whispered after another boom of thunder.

Gadreel held her tighter as Balthazar laced his fingers with hers. They watched a hawk race towards the safety of its nest.

“I’m so lucky to have you,” she murmured. “To be able to have you both. Sometimes, I still can’t believe how perfectly this all worked out. I could have easily lost you both after everything that happened.” 

“But you didn’t,” said Balthazar as he grazed his lips over her knuckles. “You have both of us.” He smiled up at Gadreel. “And I’m glad we all have each other. I couldn’t imagine life without the three of us together.” 

Gadreel smiled almost shyly at him before gently squeezing his lovers. “Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your relationship. You had every right to end things with me when you were reunited and I’m so grateful that you didn’t.” 

“It was close,” teased Balthazar, remembering the jealousy he had experienced upon watching Hannah and Gadreel bask in one another’s company. “I very nearly said something.” 

“You _both_ said something,” Hannah scoffed. “Or have you already forgotten that awful fight you had?” She shot Gadreel a glare. “I nearly slapped you after all those things you said about omegas.” 

Gadreel chuckled and kissed her hair. “You know I didn’t mean any of it.” He winked slyly. “I was just trying to knock some sense into Balthazar.” 

“It worked,” muttered Balthazar as he buried his nose into Gadreel’s neck and closed his eyes. The bigger alpha smelled like _home_ and _safety_. “Well, that and watching you knot my gorgeous mate whilst she was in heat. That convinced me to keep you.” 

Gadreel huffed in amusement before making a pleased sound as his lovers nestled into him. They listened to the thunder rumble above them and as they started to contemplate returning to the camp, Hannah trailed a line of kisses over Gadreel’s jaw. 

The older alpha made a soft, querying sound and Hannah snaked her arms around him possessively.

“Your old pack made a huge mistake in leaving without you,” she whispered. “Their loss is our gain.” She kissed his cheek tenderly and Gadreel closed his eyes and allowed a small smile to pull at the corners of his mouth. 

A moment later saw Balthazar nipping at the other alpha’s neck; littering his skin with tiny claims. He splayed a hand over Gadreel’s belly as he worked and Gadreel’s head fell back against the tree trunk, giving his lovers better access to his throat. 

“They were foolish to give up on you,” Hannah murmured as she pressed kisses into his shoulder. “And now you’re ours.” She cupped his cheek and sealed their lips together. 

“And we’re never letting you go,” Balthazar breathed beside Gadreel’s ear as he watched the pair of them explore one another’s mouths. 

Gadreel wound his arm around Hannah’s waist and suddenly manoeuvred her onto his bare lap until she was straddling him. He curled his free arm securely around Balthazar’s middle as Hannah mewled in approval and deepened their kiss. 

Balthazar watched them with a contented smile, carding his fingers through silky hair and over rolling expanses of skin. He teased at nipples and squeezed breasts and scraped his nails lightly over stomachs and chests until they began to rock against each other, desperate for more, and then he squeezed ass cheeks and sucked passionate bruises into shoulders, encouraging his lovers to claim one another. 

Finally, they turned to him and as Hannah tugged him in for a hot, open-mouthed kiss, Gadreel swept his hand over Balthazar’s body, twisting nipples and tickling sensitive ribs before settling his palm around the smaller alpha’s half-mast dick. A quiet mewl of want left Balthazar’s lips, which Hannah quickly swallowed as she continued to ravish the alpha’s mouth.

She startled when a warning growl burst out of Gadreel’s chest and she tore away from Balthazar, snapping her surprised gaze to the older alpha. 

Balthazar instinctively flinched at the threatening sound, but Gadreel released his wilting erection to curl a protective arm around him instead and the smaller alpha realised that the sound wasn’t aimed at him or Hannah. 

Hannah followed Gadreel’s gaze to a wide opening between two trees, where a wolf was watching them curiously. She made a noise somewhere between a shocked gasp and an embarrassed squeak as she hurried to cover herself using only her arms. Gadreel shifted into his wolf form and snarled at the intruder, placing himself between his lovers and their apparent stalker. 

“Who are you?” he shouted as Balthazar and Hannah shifted into their canine forms behind him.

The other wolf slowly padded forwards, head tilted in innocent confusion and when he was close enough to scent, Gadreel frowned. 

“…Jack?”

Rich coppers and browns came into focus as Jack padded forwards cautiously. “How did you do that?” he asked, glancing between the three adults. 

Hannah and Balthazar edged closer to Gadreel, scenting the air warily in hopes of figuring out Jack’s intentions.

“Why were you watching us?” Gadreel demanded; gaze narrowed as Jack slunk towards them. 

At having his question ignored, Jack came to a halt and sat down, ducking his head submissively.

“I went for a walk and heard some strange sounds, so I followed them and found you. I didn’t know it was you though,” Jack frowned and cocked an ear. “How did you do that?” 

“Do what?” asked Gadreel with a scowl.

“You were human and then you weren’t,” said Jack. “How did you change?” 

Gadreel blinked as Hannah and Balthazar shared a stunned glance. “We’re shifters,” said Balthazar. “It’s in the name.” 

Jack’s mouth drew into a thin line. “Yes, but _how_? How do you… tell your body to do that?”

“We just… do,” said Hannah helplessly. “Haven’t you ever shifted before?” 

Jack shook his head slowly. “I don’t think I can. I don’t even think I have a human form.”

“Darling, every shifter has a human form,” drawled Balthazar, perking up a little now that he was certain that Jack didn’t have any ill intentions towards them. “Otherwise they wouldn’t be a shifter.” 

Jack frowned in frustration. “Then maybe I’m just a regular wolf.”

“Well, you look like a shifter and smell like a shifter. You know what they say – if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…” Balthazar hummed. 

Jack frowned. “What have ducks got to do with anything?”

Hannah giggled at Balthazar’s long-suffering expression. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “What he’s saying is you’re definitely a shifter, which means you have a human form – you just haven’t used it before.” 

“Then, how do I use it?”

“Happy thoughts and fairy dust,” smirked Balthazar, prompting Gadreel and Hannah to roll their eyes. Who would have ever thought that Charlie and Balthazar would become such close friends? The pair of them spent at least one night each week holed up in Charlie’s shelter, streaming various movies on Charlie’s smartphone. According to Charlie, Balthazar was a big fan of Disney and chick flicks. 

Jack wrinkled his nose. “What’s a fairy?”

“I’m wasted on this kid,” grumbled Balthazar. 

Gadreel arched an eyebrow. “It isn’t important. What is important is you deciding to wander off from the pack on your own. Is there a reason you crept off without supervision?” 

Jack looked caught out at the accusing tone. He ducked his head sheepishly. “I just… wanted to go for a walk.”

Gadreel narrowed his eyes and all the authority of a pack alpha leader bled into his tone when he next spoke. “You know the rules, Jack. We don’t know if we can trust you yet. You can’t sneak out without supervision – not until we’re confident that you won’t harm us or lead us into an ambush. I’ll take you back to the camp, _where you will stay._ Understood?” 

“I won’t hurt any of you,” protested Jack. “It’s not as though I know any other packs around here. I don’t know your enemies and I’m hardly going to plan an attack with them. My old pack never came this far north.” 

“The rules are in place for a reason,” stated Gadreel firmly. “Either take heed of them or leave. I’ll ask again: do you understand?” 

Jack sagged in defeat. “I understand. I’m sorry.” He lowered himself to the ground, ears pinned to his skull as he waited. 

Hannah’s gaze softened and she padded towards him. “Get up, Jack. Gadreel won’t attack you. We’re not like the timbers.” She flicked her gaze to Gadreel and he prowled forwards. “But you do have to follow rules,” she said sternly. 

“Get up,” huffed Gadreel and Jack did so. “I’ll escort you back to camp.”

Balthazar and Hannah trotted behind them and privately admired how hot Gadreel was when he flipped into lead alpha mode. From the way he held himself to the way he smelled, Gadreel oozed appeal even when he wasn’t acting soft and gentle with his lovers. This side of the alpha had certainly made heats and ruts a lot more fun. 

“What were you doing out here anyway?” Jack asked after a few minutes and Balthazar and Hannah could tell by Gadreel’s pause that he was uncomfortable. They weren’t about to help him. 

“We were… engaging in activities of a _private_ nature,” Gadreel said eventually.

Jack’s brow creased. “What kind of activities need this much privacy from the pack? Were you doing something you’re not supposed to? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” 

Gadreel squared his jaw. “We were… reaffirming our affections for one another.”

Jack looked hopelessly confused. 

“We were having sex,” snorted Balthazar, making both Hannah and Gadreel turn a particular shade of scarlet beneath their fur. 

Jack’s brow furrowed deeper. “But there’s three of you. How does that work? Where does the second penis go?” 

Balthazar opened his mouth; a delighted sparkle in his eyes and Hannah tackled him before he could speak, leaving Gadreel to stare at the ground in mortification. 

“That’s an inappropriate line of questioning,” mumbled Gadreel as Balthazar attempted to throw Hannah off and come up with an even more inappropriate answer. 

“Three wolves can’t mate,” insisted Jack. “There would be too many parts. Unless they take turns. Do you take turns?” 

Gadreel looked ill.

Oblivious to the scuffle behind him as Balthazar practically trembled with unrestrained joy and Hannah tried desperately to keep him quiet, Jack turned his attention to Gadreel. 

“Don’t you get angry at another male mating with your female? Aren’t you supposed to defend her?” Jack’s eyes widened. “Wait, does Dean even let you mate? Isn’t the Alpha the only one who’s allowed to mate? Is that why you’re out here? You don’t want him to know?” Jack’s gaze flickered rapidly as he came to an entirely incorrect conclusion. “Are you planning to challenge him for position of Alpha?” 

Gadreel blinked as he attempted to wrap his brain around Jack’s line of thought. He eventually gave up and shook his head exasperatedly. “No, I’m not planning to challenge Dean and he isn’t the only one who’s allowed to take a mate. We were out here because sex is… private. We didn’t want anyone spying on us.” He eyed Jack pointedly. 

Jack glanced between the three adults and fell silent as they continued their journey, but it was clear that there were more questions waiting to burst free. 

They made it to the outskirts of the camp and Jack turned to the trio with a puzzled expression.

“So where does the second penis go?” 

“Hannah can tell you all about it in vivid detail,” chirped Balthazar before Hannah had a chance to tackle him again.

“No, she can’t,” Hannah squealed.

“Dean is calling me,” Gadreel blurted despite it being a very obvious lie and he scarpered away before Hannah could protest. Balthazar cackled at her wounded expression and he sidled up beside her. 

“I could always explain it to him?”

“You can go over there and entertain yourself with the pups since you seem so intent on behaving like one,” Hannah huffed, causing Balthazar to snicker and slink away. She then smiled awkwardly at Jack, who tilted his head in return, waiting patiently. 

“Right, well…” she started uncomfortably. “When three people love each other very much _…_ ”

* * *

“Do you like penises in your anus?” 

Adam choked and nearly fell into the stream he was drinking from. The stream lay just inside the camp – far enough away from the rest of the pack for them to be unable to pick up on Adam and Jack’s conversations. Horrified, he whirled around to face Jack. 

“… _What?”_

Jack’s tail wiggled. “Hannah was telling me about these different mating positions and how some males like having a penis in their rectum. Timber wolves would never like anything like that, but I guess shifters are different. I thought I’d see how many males in this pack like it to help me understand better. I decided to start with you. So, do you like penises in your anus?” 

Adam felt as though his eyes were about to fall out of his head. “…What is wrong with you?”

Jack’s smile fell and he lowered his head a little. “Have I… Have I done something wrong?” 

“No, seriously,” scowled Adam. “What is your problem? Who asks that sort of thing? Why would you make Hannah explain that to you?” 

Adam sunk a bit lower. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realise it would upset you.”

“You didn’t think asking me if I want a dick in my ass would offend me?” Adam asked incredulously. “How stupid are you?” 

Jack crouched lower. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Beta. I didn’t realise that speaking of mating could offend shifters.” 

“That isn’t mating,” huffed Adam. “It’s porn. It’s disgusting and you can’t say those sorts of things to people you barely know.” 

Jack descended to the ground and lay there, expression apologetic and sorrowful as he stared up at Adam with huge eyes. “I’m sorry, Beta,” he whimpered. 

Adam wrinkled his nose and backed up. “Stop calling me that. It’s weird. My name’s Adam.” He watched Jack’s ears fall. “Why are you on the floor? Get up.” 

Jack did as he was told, but he seemed to hunch in on himself as though attempting to make himself appear smaller than he actually was. Adam elected to ignore the strange behaviour and decided to change topic. 

“You’re going to be expected to hunt and fight,” Adam stated. “Can you do those things? Can you hunt?”

Jack nodded slowly. 

“Good. Can you fight?” Adam asked.

Jack hesitated, eying the beta for a moment before opening his mouth and closing it again. Adam scowled impatiently. 

“Well, can you? It’s a yes or no question.”

Jack paused a few seconds longer as he seemed to size Adam up. Finally, he shook his head. 

Adam pursed his lips. “Fine. I guess we’ll have to teach you. I’ll talk to Dean about it but I’m pretty sure he’ll want you to start training as soon as possible. Be ready when he calls for you.” 

He stalked past Jack, ignoring the omega’s bowed head. The sooner Jack left the pack, the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to continue daily updates until Saturday - when we should be past the lead-up and into the main story. After Saturday, updates will be Wednesdays and Saturdays (hopefully!) :)


	6. Chapter 6

“We’re going to be dead by the end of the week,” panted Lucifer as the latest hare bounced over a fallen tree trunk and sped into some bushes. 

The trio slowed to a stop, chests heaving and limbs aching.

“So, hunting’s a little more difficult than we anticipated,” shrugged Michael. “That’s fine. We have time to practice.” He glanced around the forest curiously and his tail swayed when he laid eyes upon a redcurrant plant. “There are plenty of fruits and other sources of nutrition in the wild.” 

Lucifer narrowed his eyes and trailed after his brothers as they trotted over to the vibrant plant beginning to meld itself into another shrub. Michael chewed a mouthful of shiny red berries and immediately pulled a face after swallowing them. 

“I don’t think they’re ripe,” he said at Raphael’s querying look. He scrunched his nose. “They’re quite… bitter.”

There was a strange cawing above them and the trio looked up at the tree above them to find a single crow staring down at them with pure glee in its beady gaze. It took the Novaks a few moments to register that the bird was _laughing_ at them. 

“What’s so funny?” Lucifer growled, baring his teeth at the bird. Over the few days that they had spent in the wild, Lucifer had developed a special sort of loathing for the small creatures inhabiting the forest. 

With an amused glint in its eye, the crow bobbed its head. “Stupid wolf! Stupid wolf! Will make good carrion for Riccah’s brothers and sisters!” 

Lucifer rolled his eyes. Every species of bird seemed to have disjointed or unusual speech patterns. If they weren’t speaking in riddles, most of what they said tended to be indecipherable anyway. Perhaps they had never quite fully evolved from dinosaurs… 

Lucifer bounded towards the tree and launched himself up the trunk, snapping his jaws with a dangerous snarl. The crow flapped its wings with a distressed shriek and hovered above them angrily. 

“White wolf will leak! Inside out! Then Riccah will have last laugh!”

“What is it talking about?” Raphael whispered with an amused smile. Michael shook his head and cleared his throat. 

“Lucifer, come on. We’ll find something a little less pungent with a smaller crowd.” He eyed the crow pointedly and it settled on its branch again with an indignant caw. The Novaks turned away from it, Lucifer grumbling to himself, and as they began their search for a more palatable fruit, the crow cried one last comment. 

“Black bryony poisons all greedy wolves.”

Brows furrowing, Raphael glanced at his brothers. “Black bryony?” 

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “It’s a crow. It’s probably a metaphor stupid birds use. Or maybe it’s the name of their ridiculous bird god or something.”

They wandered the forest and finally came to a bramble bush rife with blackberries. With no audience this time, Raphael and Lucifer dug in, but Michael frowned and sat down as pain curled in his stomach. 

Raphael cocked an ear at the white wolf. “Michael?”

Michael swallowed thickly as his throat grew dry and the ache in his stomach intensified. He shifted uncomfortably. “…Something doesn’t feel right.” 

Lucifer glanced over with a narrowed gaze. “What do you mean?”

Bile crawled up Michael’s throat and he gulped it down quickly with dawning horror as his stomach began to groan and contort in protest. “I… I don’t think those were redcurrants.” 

Surprise filtered over Lucifer and Raphael’s faces and they edged towards their older brother as a quiet whine slipped out of Michael’s throat. He lay down, hoping to ease his thrashing stomach. 

Lucifer and Raphael leaped backwards as Michael suddenly vomited.

They stared at the small puddle in shock and edged towards the older wolf, only for Michael to retch again with a whimper. 

Michael cursed under his breath when he realised that his stomach wasn’t only pushing the toxins _up_ his body.

He climbed to his paws shakily and limped behind a shrub with his tail tucked beneath his legs. When his brothers made to follow him, he growled, “Stay there!” 

As the sounds of their brother’s unfortunate situation reached their ears, Raphael and Lucifer grimaced and averted their gazes. 

Lucifer hoped that his brothers would finally be convinced that it was time to end this farcical plan and return to the safety of the city.

* * *

A threatening growl rumbled in Adam’s chest as he circled Jack. He bared his teeth challengingly and waited for Jack’s responding snarl, but when it never arrived, he darted towards the omega and barked once in warning before lunging at him. 

They crashed to the floor and Jack immediately rolled onto his back with a submissive whimper.

Adam stilled and glared at the omega beneath him. “You’re supposed to fight back.” He slid off Jack for the fourth time that day and growled irritably. “Why is this so difficult for you to understand?” he snapped as he whirled on the omega. “I can’t go any easier on you!” 

Even Castiel looked exasperated as he watched on from the side-lines. “Jack, you can’t just roll over in a fight and hope nothing bad will happen. If you display any sort vulnerability in a battle with an enemy, you’re going to be severely injured – or worse. They won’t just walk away.” 

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” summarised Adam.

Jack glanced between them both and slowly rolled to his paws, keeping his head low. “I’m sorry,” he said again, making Adam groan and Castiel close his eyes. 

“Try shoving at me, or clawing, or kicking,” huffed Adam. “Do _something._ ”

Jack licked his lips nervously and lowered his ears as Adam returned to his starting position. The beta circled Jack again for a few seconds before surging towards him and knocking him to the ground and once again, Jack rolled onto his back. 

Adam growled in frustration and stalked over to Castiel. “He can’t fight,” he stated. “He doesn’t know how and there’s no way we can teach him if he won’t even _try_. This is pointless. We might as well give up and tell Dean that he’s useless.” 

Castiel frowned at Adam in silent reprimand before flicking his gaze to Jack. “Be patient, Adam,” he murmured. “I was slow to adapt to pack life. Jack hasn’t grown up with the same experiences as you and the rest of the pack.” 

“He’s grown up in the wild,” Adam pointed out. “Which is more than can be said for you. He should still know how to do basic hunting and fighting like any wolf should – shifter or not.” 

Castiel padded towards Jack cautiously. “Not necessarily.” He tilted his head at the other omega. “Did your parents ever teach you how to hunt and fight, Jack?” 

Jack’s ears flattened and he dropped his gaze sadly. “I don’t know my father. I… I barely remember my mother. She died when I was very young. Alphas Dion and Liorna stumbled across us and before my mom died, they promised to take care of me. They knew I was different but… I don’t know; I guess they felt sorry for me. They were very good to me in the six years I knew them, before their spirits passed out of the forest and their son and his mate took over the pack.” 

Adam fell silent as Castiel’s gaze softened. “I’m sorry about your mother,” Castiel murmured.

Jack pawed the ground. “She was murdered. That’s what Dion said. She bore the claw marks and scent of a mountain lion. I vaguely remember being chased by something and I remember my mom saving me and trying to fight… _something_ off, but she hid me in a tree trunk and next thing I knew, the monster was running away and my mom was on the floor, bleeding. Dion and Liorna arrived soon after and when I got a little older, they started to teach me how to defend myself. Their son, Tyron, made me an Omega when he took over and he furthered my training.” 

“So, you can fight,” frowned Adam. “Why aren’t you proving it?”

Jack blinked at him before turning to Castiel. “You’re an Omega too, right?” 

Castiel nodded and Jack smiled, tail wiggling. He lowered himself into an attack position and bared his teeth at Castiel. 

Willing to humour the young wolf, Castiel took up Adam’s previous position and began circling the other omega. He turned sharply and raced towards Jack, paws outstretched as he knocked the other omega off-balance, but Jack suddenly snarled and swiped at Castiel’s muzzle before twisting his entire body and managing to wrap his jaws around the older wolf’s neck. 

Castiel yelped in surprise and Jack raised himself onto two legs, dragging Castiel up with him. He swivelled until he was fully facing the older omega and sunk his claws into Castiel’s sides, before drawing his head back to carefully hold Castiel’s throat between his teeth. 

Whilst no blood was drawn, Castiel whimpered at the sensation of teeth around his vulnerable windpipe and he shoved panickily at the other omega, only for Jack to push them both to the ground until Castiel was on his back, unable to escape as Jack straddled him. 

Castiel stilled, eyes wide as Jack snarled above him.

Then, Jack released him with a pleased grin and a wagging tail. Castiel scrambled to his feet, chest heaving and pupils dilated in a mixture of fear and shock and it took him a few moments to calm himself. From the side-lines, Adam’s jaw swung freely open. 

“…You just pinned me in under ten seconds,” Castiel managed weakly.

Jack nodded in amusement. “I challenged you and you responded. If you didn’t want me to pin you, you should have fought back.” 

Castiel opened his mouth and snapped it shut again. He shook his head incredulously. “I didn’t have _time_ to fight back. You just… I’ve never seen anyone fight like that. You fight like…” 

“A timber wolf?” Jack finished, eyes sparkling with laughter.

“Yeah,” Castiel mumbled before his brows pinched together in confusion. “Wait, why didn’t you do that with Adam? If you can fight like that, why did you keep rolling over earlier?” 

Jack tilted his head. “Adam’s a Beta. You’re an Omega. I’m allowed to fight you and win. I have to lose against Adam, otherwise he could have his title stripped or he might decide to turn a play fight into a real fight. The only way I would be allowed to win is if he said I could. Surely you know that?” 

Since Adam seemed to be struggling to adjust to what he had seen moments ago, Castiel shook his head slowly.

“That’s timber wolf hierarchy. Adam may be a beta, but that doesn’t mean you can’t beat him in a fight. Alphas, betas and omegas train with one another and anyone can win. There aren’t any titles to strip and we certainly won’t turn training into an actual fight. You’re allowed to beat him, Jack.” Castiel suddenly chuckled. “In fact, perhaps he could learn a few tricks off you. He’s still learning himself, really and I wouldn’t mind a few lessons either.” 

Jack lowered his head a fraction and flicked his uncertain gaze to Adam. He looked nervous at being told that he was allowed to teach the beta. 

“Adam,” Castiel coughed when the beta continued to stare at Jack in stunned silence.

Finally, Adam shook his head. “Uh… yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.” 

Jack perked up. “You’re giving me permission to win, Beta?”

“Sure,” nodded Adam, sounding a little dumbstruck. “You can beat me any day of the year if you teach me how to fight like that. Not that I’ll have much of a say in the matter anyway.” 

Jack’s tail wagged excitedly and Castiel trotted over to Adam and nudged him towards the other teen. Adam stumbled over with wide eyes and took up an attack position in front of Jack. He snarled half-heartedly and Jack returned the growl full-volume before sprinting towards Adam. 

Three twists and four bites later, Adam was pinned on his back with his neck clamped in Jack’s jaws.

Jack stepped off the beta and Adam remained in the submissive position for another minute, blinking up at the clouds in awed shock. He must have remained there a fraction too long, because Jack snuffled at his cheek with a soft whine and licked at his muzzle. 

He batted the omega away with a disgusted curl of his lips. “Dude! You have to stop doing that!”

Jack fell onto his rump and blinked innocently. “…But you’re higher up the pack chain of command.” 

“Just stop kissing me,” huffed Adam as he rolled to his paws, tired of explaining how genders weren’t ranks. “It’s weird.”

Jack frowned. “…I’m not kissing you? I’m proving to you that you’re still higher up the ranks than me, even though I won our battle.” He wrinkled his nose. “Why would I kiss you? That’s a really strange thing to say.”

Adam paused and stared at the omega for a few seconds before shaking his head wearily. “Okay well… stop it. In shifter culture, licking someone’s muzzle is a kiss. Unless you’ve injured their mouth or something during training – that’s different. But usually it means you’re giving them a kiss.”

Jack scrunched his face up. “That’s really weird.”

“Licking someone’s muzzle to prove that you’re a lower rank than them is weird,” Adam shot back, lifting his chin. “Why would you need to constantly reassure someone that they’re a higher rank than you?” 

Jack frowned. “Well, it’s either that or have the whole pack lay into you.”

“Why would you want to be part of a pack that hurts you if you don’t stay in line?” Adam countered sharply. 

“Because they still love and protect you even if they have to reprimand you a couple of times. It’s how you keep pack bonds strong and how you keep the pack working together smoothly,” Jack huffed and it was evident that the argument was beginning to get under his skin. 

“Our pack bonds are strong and we work together perfectly well without taking a bite out of our pack mates,” Adam huffed. “And we don’t have stupid rank systems.” 

Jack opened his mouth but promptly snapped it shut again with a scowl. He looked as though he had more to say but something was keeping him from saying it and Adam had a feeling that it was the fact that he was a beta. He rolled his eyes, unwilling to explain that Jack could argue with him despite their genders. He didn’t have any intention of causing himself a headache. 

“Whatever,” Adam grumbled. “Since you can already fight, I guess we don’t need to keep going with these training sessions. Might as well head back to camp.” 

He hiked his tail high into the air and trotted away from Jack and the silent Castiel, not waiting to see if they would follow him.

* * *

As Ben and Samandriel zoomed on ahead, splashing in the stream and climbing over fallen tree trunks, Dean and Castiel trotted behind at a slower pace, speaking softly between themselves. Cas nuzzled his mate’s jaw and gently pressed his head under Dean’s chin and the alpha scent-marked him with a pleased rumble, eyes closed in contentment. 

Birds song floated down from the trees and the trickling water was a peaceful background noise in the otherwise quiet section of forest. They were a fair walk away from the camp now and Dean and Castiel were grateful for the alone time. 

“So, he just… floored you?” asked Dean amusedly as he snuffled at his lover’s ear. “No way you could throw him off?” 

Castiel shook his head and pressed up against his mate’s side, relishing the feeling of Dean’s toned body pressing against his own. It had been far too long since he and Dean had spent time fussing over one another – he could already feel his heart rate slowing. “He fights like one of them. A timber, I mean.” 

Dean licked his mate’s cheek and nosed at his throat, which Cas easily bared for him. “As long as he didn’t hurt you.” 

“He didn’t,” Cas reassured, rubbing his cheek against Dean’s head in a scent mark of his own. “Although I think Adam is uncomfortable with him. He’s very impatient. He didn’t even offer to clean Jack up. Not that he needed it, mind you.” 

Dean’s brows furrowed and he wedged his head under Castiel’s to encourage his mate to mark him. “The kid did attack him a few days ago, to be fair. I’m a little wary of Jack myself, what with him being raised by timbers and all.” 

Castiel smiled privately to himself. A couple of years ago, Dean had been doing everything he could to condemn the beta; now he defended the teen as much as he defended Sam. Castiel licked his lover’s muzzle and Dean cocked an ear at his expression. 

“Whilst he’s evidently capable of it, I somehow doubt Jack will hurt us. I think he’s just confused by shifter culture. He seems like a good pup,” Castiel commented. 

Dean made a contemplative noise and cast his gaze to Ben and Samandriel as they chased each other through the stream, splashing as much as they could. 

“Maybe I should see Jack in action,” Dean mused before a sly smirk stole over his face. “Watch him floor your pretty ass.” 

Castiel growled playfully and butted his shoulder. “We’ll see who’s laughing when he pins you.”

Dean snorted in disbelief. “Now, him flooring a delicate city mutt I can believe. Him flooring an experienced wild alpha weighing twice his size? I highly doubt that.” 

Castiel feigned an insulted expression. “I’m not sure I like this cocky side of you.”

Dean smirked and lifted his chin. “We all know wild alphas are far stronger than city omegas.” 

A mischievous glint entered Castiel’s eye as he glanced between Dean and the stream. He launched himself at the alpha and Dean made a startled noise as they both crashed into the water. They wrestled for a bit, each trying to soak the other and when they were both sufficiently drenched, the pups sped over and joined in on the fun, splashing both adults as hard as they could. 

Dean leaped away from Castiel and raced down the stream and Cas quickly rolled to his paws and chased after the alpha, the pups galloping behind. They bounced over fallen trees and rocks and when the pups fell too far behind, Dean and Cas turned around to splash them and allow them to catch up. Once they had, Cas and Dean raced ahead again, tackling each other with playful growls and happy grins. 

The stream flowed faster and wider before joining a lazy river and Cas shoved Dean into the deep water before he was dragged in himself by the smirking alpha. The pups plunged in after them and attempted to dunk one another below the surface as they paddled around the splashing adults. 

Eventually, their limbs grew tired from swimming and they crawled up the bank and onto the sun-warmed grass. They shook the excess water from their fur and Dean immediately circled Cas and curled around his mate as they lay down. The pups scampered over and squeezed themselves into Castiel’s side and as they settled down, they nuzzled and scented at one another with contented purrs. Castiel leaned down to lick their fur free of obvious water droplets and they huffed and rolled over for him, fully enjoying the grooming time under the sun. 

Cas smiled when Dean snuggled closer and began licking and snuffling at his head and neck and he made an encouraging sound when the alpha wrapped a protective paw around them all and continued grooming the rest of his body. 

The warm summer air dried their fur quickly and the lengthy days made them more playful than usual. Castiel loved summers in the wild – he didn’t have to act reserved and proper like he was expected to in civilisation; in the wild, he could run around carefree and push his mate into streams and chase pups around the forest and no one would bat an eyelid. In fact, most wolves would probably join in. He could play and act silly with his son and no one would judge him for it. 

The best part was that Dean encouraged him to relax and let loose. He was lucky enough to be mated to a lead alpha who enjoyed fooling around and teasing his family even though he could be so serious and protective when he needed to be. Cas loved his alpha more than he would ever be able to put into words. 

Dean’s laps grew tender and gentle and Cas smiled when he realised that Dean was blanketing his body in kisses. He leaned into his alpha as he watched the pups pounce on one another and tug at ears and paws, and he smiled at how full of love his heart was for his family. 

So much for all those lessons on ‘cruel’ wild folk; the teachers who had spoken of how they abused omegas and fought with one another all day and night. Where were all these supposed savages who killed pups that weren’t their own and spent hours putting each other in their place within the pack hierarchy? Where were all the unintelligent wild wolves who couldn’t read and relied on aggression and violence to settle their problems? 

Cas chuckled to himself and rolled onto his back, smiling at Dean’s delighted mewl. The alpha straddled him and butted their heads together affectionately as the pups barked enthusiastically and crawled all over Cas and Dean. 

Dean settled on top of his omega and closed his eyes as Cas wrapped his paws around him. They batted idly at Samandriel and Ben as they were used as climbing frames and the pups giggled as they were knocked onto the floor, only to try clambering over the adults again a few seconds later. 

It was peaceful and relaxing and Castiel relished every moment with Dean and their pups. He was aware that he would never have achieved anything close to this in the city and he sighed deeply as Dean scented at his throat. He had a family here in the wild and that family didn’t just consist of Dean, Samandriel, and Ben; the entire Winchester pack was his family and he loved them all dearly. 

He had found his home and it didn’t need four walls and a bed.

“I love you all very much,” Cas murmured as he squeezed his mate. 

“We love you too, Dad,” Samandriel said, tilting his head in a puzzled manner, as though he couldn’t quite work out what had made his father say something like that. 

“Yeah,” Ben agreed as he padded up to Cas’ face and butted his head gently.

Dean seemed to understand, for he nuzzled Cas’ cheek and whispered beside his ear, “I love this – being with my family. I’m a very lucky alpha.” 

Castiel closed his eyes and held onto his mate.

Everything was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promised there'd be destiel! ;)


	7. Chapter 7

The three Novaks had been wandering aimlessly through the wild for ten days. With their hunting escapades proving unsuccessful and the incident with the black bryony invoking a certain wariness of the wild berries and seeds that the forests had to offer, the brothers were in much need of a hearty meal. 

Lucifer had complained at least three times each day that what they were doing was idiotic and they should return to the safety of the city, where they had all they needed. The more he protested, the more Raphael and Michael were determined to prove that their romp in the wild would do them all some good – a break from their miserable lives in the city. 

The trees and shrubs grew sparser as the sound of roaring water reached their ears and they came to a fast-flowing river that stretched into the horizon, blocking their path. Beyond the river lay a continuation of the dense forest. 

Michael eyed the river contemplatively, wondering how best to traverse it and beside him, Lucifer narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 

“You’re not seriously considering crossing it?”

Michael arched an eyebrow. “Why not?” 

The bigger wolf snorted and turned to face the trees they had just come from. “No way. I’m going back. This is madness – you’re both crazy.” 

“Lucifer,” huffed Michael as his brother began to walk away. When the other alpha gave no acknowledgement of hearing Michael, the white wolf scowled. “Lucifer,” he said again. 

Lucifer continued on his way and Michael lost his patience. He growled, “Don’t turn your back on me, brother.”

Lucifer stiffened and whirled on his older brother, letting loose a snarl of his own. It briefly occurred to Michael that perhaps the lack of a balanced diet was starting to affect them all, but he was suddenly too angry with Lucifer’s defiance and constant complaints to make excuses for him. 

Michael bared his teeth at Lucifer instinctively and the bigger alpha’s hackles raised as he stalked towards Michael, preparing himself for a fight. They began to circle one another slowly; this scenario wasn’t an uncommon one for the two older Novak brothers to find themselves in and it wasn’t unusual for them to draw blood or litter each other in painful bruises. However, the addition of claws and fangs was entirely new, yet both were quite eager to test their new assets on one another. 

As Lucifer surged towards Michael, a call from their younger brother made them pause.

“Fish,” Raphael said in surprise. 

The older Novaks turned to him with deep scowls and watched as their little brother carefully slid down the muddy bank to where a selection of large rocks barely rose above the surface of the water. Raphael shuffled along the rubble until his toes made contact with the cool liquid. He stared intently into the river and his brothers edged forwards curiously, only to startle when Raphael plunged his head into the water. 

He recoiled a second later with a scrunched nose and he spat out a stream of water before staring into the river once more. He submerged his head again and returned with a frustrated huff, paws slipping a little on the rocks. 

Michael and Lucifer peered over the bank and watched a long, spotted fish glide past them.

“Pike,” Michael said, cocking an eyebrow. He watched Raphael aim for the same fish that had just passed them. He missed by an inch. 

Michael slid down the bank and cautiously made his way to the rocks, screwing his face up as the violent waters sprayed a fine mist over his face. 

He lost his balance a couple of times on the slippery rocks but he managed to right himself and crouched beside Raphael, watching the fish wiggle closer. He lunged for one and missed by a mile. 

“You’ll never catch them,” Lucifer scoffed. “The river’s too deep.”

Raphael suddenly returned from the water with a small, thrashing pike between his jaws. He wagged his tail cheekily at Lucifer. 

Mouth swinging open, Lucifer stared at his little brother and a grin crept over Michael’s face.

Michael backed up so Raphael could crawl up the bank to enjoy his catch, and the white wolf returned to the rocks in hopes of finding his own fishing success. A few moments later, Lucifer cautiously slid down the bank. 

The two older Novaks spent a long time ducking in and out of the water to no avail, until finally Michael snagged a pike of his own. By the time the white wolf climbed the bank, Raphael had finished his meal and was looking rather nauseous. Michael grimaced and sat a little distance away before shifting his reluctant gaze to the slimy, unappetising fish between his paws. He had always enjoyed sushi, yet he knew that his stomach wouldn’t thank him for what he was about to eat. His sushi had never stared back at him before.

Still, his stomach would have to get used to raw meat eventually if he was to continue his venture into the wild. He dug in with a grimace and immediately regretted it as the intense stench of fish hit his nostrils. 

Down on the rocks, Lucifer began to grow irritated by his lack of success. The water was cold against his toes and his face was drenched from each plunge under the water. He wasn’t even close to catching a pike, yet both of his brothers had managed it. 

He growled quietly to himself and reached a little further when he sunk his head below the water.

“Lucifer, you’re going to fall,” Michael said with a frown. 

“Shut up and eat your fish,” huffed Lucifer as he once again resurfaced empty-handed.

A huge pike glided lazily towards him and Lucifer perked up. It was bigger than both of his brothers’. 

It was a bit of stretch but if he just shuffled to the edge of the rock and craned his neck…

 _Splash._

Michael rolled his eyes. “I told you not to-” He cut himself off as he looked to the water around the rocks where Lucifer _should_ have been. 

“Lucifer?” Michael asked in confusion as he slowly clambered to his paws and edged towards the river.

Suddenly, a panicked inhale and a bout of uncoordinated splashing caught Michael’s attention. He glanced down the river, to a spot at least twenty metres away, and watched as his brother fought frantically against the current and the rocks and fallen trees he was being hurled against. 

“Lucifer!” Michael cried out in alarm before sprinting down the river, Raphael hot on his tail.

The river was fast and stronger than any of them had anticipated, and Lucifer was roughly thrown into a boulder before being dragged below the surface. He thrashed against its grip on him and took a hurried breath before being yanked underwater again and his eyes widened when he saw a log heading directly for him; another victim of the river’s unyielding power. 

He was winded when the log rammed into his stomach and he lost vital oxygen as the current kept a firm hold on him, preventing him from reaching the surface. 

Michael and Raphael pushed themselves harder and they thundered alongside the river, whining when Lucifer didn’t resurface in over a minute. They slid down the bank and ran along its muddy path, almost slipping into the water themselves as they tried to locate Lucifer’s body. 

When he finally broke the surface, he looked wounded and fearful, and he cried out to his brothers desperately.

“Help!” he begged before disappearing below the surface once more. 

He was too far away, Michael realised with dawning horror. There was no way that Michael or Raphael could grab him. 

Lucifer slammed into another rock in the centre of the river and managed to crash through the surface. “Mikey!” he pleaded as he scrambled for purchase at the rock. 

Heart clenching with fear, Michael skidded to a halt and looked around frantically for anything that could help him rescue his brother – a long branch, a large piece of driftwood, some long reeds… anything. 

He startled as Raphael darted forwards and made a beeline for the river.

“No!” Michael yelled as he lunged for his younger brother and tackled him to the ground. They wrestled for a moment before a vicious snarl tore out of Michael’s throat and Raphael’s ears flattened as he lay limply beneath the other alpha. 

“We have to save him,” Raphael whined, eyes glazed with emotion.

“Not like that,” growled Michael even as his blood rushed in his ears. “It’s suicide. You’ll be swept down the river with him.” 

Michael flitted his gaze around in a futile search for something that would help his brother, only for ice to settle in his veins when he realised that Lucifer was no longer clinging to the rock. He leaped off Raphael and looked around in terror, hoping to catch a glimpse of dirty blond fur. He spotted something floating at least forty metres downriver and he inhaled sharply as it rammed into another rock before sinking below the water with little resistance. 

He realised his paws were already moving and he could hear Raphael galloping after him.

Their brother bobbed above the surface once more, but he didn’t appear to be fighting the current anymore – in fact, he didn’t appear to be moving at all. 

“There’s nothing to help him,” fretted Raphael as they ran. “Michael, he’s not moving!”

Bile rose up Michael’s throat but he didn’t stop. He was covered in mud and his pads were torn from all the rocks he was sprinting over, but he didn’t dare slow down. He scoured the bank for anything that Lucifer would be able to grab. 

Finally, up ahead he spotted an old fallen tree that lay splintered and warped, reaching half-way across the river. Michael raced towards it and clambered onto its rotting trunk. It creaked ominously below his paws and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before shuffling along it. It popped and moaned and began to bend beneath his weight, but he continued towards the centre of the river, attention shifting to Lucifer as the larger alpha floated towards him. 

When Lucifer was about to pass below the trunk, Michael leaned down and snagged him by the scruff of his neck. As he did so, the trunk groaned in protest and jerked towards the water, and a terrifying snapping sound came from the roots that were barely keeping purchase on the wet mud of the bank. 

With some awkward manoeuvring, Michael edged towards the bank with an unnervingly still Lucifer in his grasp. As he neared the base of the trunk, there was an almighty _crack_ and the tree plummeted towards the river, taking Michael and Lucifer with it. 

Michael yelped as he plunged into the cold water and he quickly snatched Lucifer’s scruff before his brother could be swept away once more. The current gripped his body and dragged him downriver but before he could be swept too far, teeth clamped around his own scruff and he was hauled halfway up the bank. 

He dug his claws into the muddy sides and heaved himself out of the water, tugging Lucifer with him, and he collapsed on the pebbles with a heaving chest. Raphael panted heavily as he stumbled towards Lucifer and began nudging him with a low whine in his throat. 

With a queasy feeling in his stomach, Michael crawled towards his prone brother and stared at the smattering of blood on his limbs and chest and back. There would no doubt be large, ugly bruises hiding beneath his fur. 

“He’s not breathing,” Raphael whimpered before morphing into his human form and gazing at Lucifer helplessly. He clasped his hands together and hesitated as he figured out where to place them, before rolling Lucifer onto his back and thumping on his chest desperately. 

Michael followed his little brother’s lead and switched into his human form before shuffling towards Lucifer’s head and breathing into his snout. He had no idea if Lucifer had a heartbeat, but with the amount of water he had swallowed, he wasn’t about to stop Raphael from compressing their brother’s chest. 

A couple of moments later, Lucifer spluttered violently and rolled onto his side as his lungs and stomach cleared themselves of water. Michael and Raphael returned to their canine forms and grimaced as hacking coughs wracked Lucifer’s body. It took him a few minutes to clear his systems of river water and once he had, he collapsed to the pebbles in exhaustion. 

Michael and Raphael were silent as their brother wheezed and gulped in deep breaths of air. They crept towards him as he began to shudder from shock and Michael carefully lay beside him and began to lap the water from his fur. 

He lapped at Lucifer’s back and shoulders and neck, and when he reached the other alpha’s head, Lucifer suddenly sprung to his paws and snarled at Michael, making him jerk backwards. 

“Don’t touch me!” Lucifer snapped before skulking away and leaving his brothers to stare after him in surprise.

“Luci,” Michael whispered. “You nearly died.” 

Before Michael could blink, Lucifer whirled around and pounced on him with an intimidating growl. He swiped at Michael’s cheek and the older alpha yelped as Lucifer’s claws ripped through his flesh. He lay beneath the blond wolf, eyes wide and confused and heart hammering against his ribcage as Lucifer pinned him to the rocky ground. 

“This never would have happened if you hadn’t forced us all out here! I told you that I didn’t want to come here!” Lucifer hissed, paw pressing against Michael’s throat. 

Stunned by his brother’s anger, Michael kept silent and waited for Lucifer to deliver the final blow – like he knew his brother had always wanted to. 

Surprisingly, Lucifer slunk away into the forest with nothing more than a mutter.

Michael remained on the ground for a few moments, staring at the river. He had just saved his brother’s life; why was Lucifer so furious with him? 

Expecting another blow, he flinched when Raphael licked his bloodied cheek. Raphael frowned and settled beside him before continuing to clean the wound and Michael dared to relax a fraction, closing his eyes as he relished the feeling of someone taking care of him for once. 

His mother’s words crept into his mind. _Alphas who rely on other alphas are no better than omegas. Alphas are supposed to be strong and independent and confident in everything they do – they don’t need approval or reassurance from other alphas. If they do, they’re weak and subservient; they’re not a real alpha._

Michael quickly drew away from his brother with a half-hearted growl and clambered to his paws, ignoring the hurt expression that flickered over Raphael’s face. 

“We need to find Lucifer before he gets himself killed,” Michael huffed as he stalked away, leaving Raphael to trail after him with lowered ears.

* * *

“So, first hunt with the pack, kiddo. You nervous?” 

Jack cocked his head at Gabriel and furrowed his brow. “No. Why would I be nervous?”

Sam bit back a chuckle as Gabriel grinned. “I was. Screwed up my first hunt pretty badly. And my second. Lost everyone their meals.” 

Jack raised his eyebrows. “How young were you?”

Gabriel laughed. “Forty-four. It was barely three years ago.” 

Jack’s eyes blew wide and he stared at Gabriel in astonishment. “You were forty-four when you learned to hunt? Wait, so you’re… ancient! I’ve never met anyone that old before! I was the oldest wolf in my other pack.” 

“Gee, thanks, kid,” snorted Gabriel. “Less of the ‘ancient’, yeah? I’m not _that_ old. Middle-aged really.”

Sam snickered and whispered to Jack conspiratorially, “I agree with you – he’s definitely looking a little grey around the muzzle.” 

“Hey!”

Jack seemed genuinely confused. “How many years can Shifters live for?” 

“Well, if you feed and water them regularly, some can live up to a hundred years… maybe more,” said Gabriel, brow creasing at Jack’s awed expression. How little did this kid know about his own species? 

“…A hundred _years_?” Jack breathed. “So, eighteen… That makes me really young.”

“Still a pup, really,” agreed Sam. 

A delighted smile swept across Jack’s features and his eyes crinkled joyfully. “I always thought I was just a freak.”

Sam and Gabriel’s expressions fell and they shared a concerned glance before sidling closer to the young omega. 

“Is… uh… is that what your old pack said about you?” Gabriel asked softly.

Jack nodded, tail wagging. “By their standards, I suppose they were right. They only live for about eight years, so me being able to live for a hundred does kinda make me a freak.” 

Sam opened his mouth to protest but Dean suddenly called everyone to attention and ordered them into position. 

“Come on, Jack,” murmured Gabriel. “You’re on chaser with me.” He trotted through the trees, keeping one eye on the herd of white-tailed deer and one eye on Jack. The omega followed him obediently and when Gabriel crouched low to the ground, so did Jack. 

The pack waited for their decoy to send the deer sprinting in their direction.

A moment later, Hannah sprung from her northern position and let loose a string of vicious snarls and barks as she galloped towards the herd. The deer bellowed and bleated and raced south, oblivious to the pack lying in wait for them. 

The second the deer reached their position, the chasers bounded towards them from the south, east, and west and the deer cried out in terror before scattering in every direction. Chaos ensued as the deer slammed into one another and stumbled in a tangle of limbs, and as the chasers separated their chosen victims from the rest of the herd, muscle leaped into action and began to bring them down. 

Gabriel and Meg struggled to control one feisty doe and when Crowley jumped on her rump, she kicked him off with an enraged battle cry. He scrambled out of the way when she suddenly spun around and attempted to headbutt him, and Meg and Gabriel retreated when the doe turned her focus to them instead. 

She headed towards her fleeing herd and Meg and Gabriel cantered towards her again, rounding her back towards their pack as Crowley attempted to pounce on her once more, but she side-kicked him away and swung her hard head at Meg, who barely managed to evade the blow. 

From the corner of his eye, Gabriel spotted Sam and Dean running towards them, but another blur of fur caught his attention. 

Jack snarled as he snapped at the doe’s belly and when she kicked out at him, he wrapped his jaws around her hock and dragged her leg backwards. She grunted as she stumbled and she scrambled to her hooves frantically, but Jack rounded her other side and clamped his teeth around her neck. 

She fell and paddled at the ground desperately and he bounced backwards when she tried to kick him with her forelimbs. Relentless, he attacked her throat again and bounded away when she attempted to hit him. He repeated this cycle a couple more times, baying and snarling at her until she finally slumped in exhaustion, the fight drained from her. He killed her quickly and cleanly before turning to Dean and lowering himself to the ground. 

Dean flicked his gaze between the doe and Jack, eyes wide with surprise. “That was… wow.”

Jack’s tail wiggled along the grass. 

“…No wonder you weren’t nervous,” Sam half-laughed in disbelief. “That was… really something.”

“Thank you, Alpha,” Jack said softly, gaze on Dean. 

Dean grimaced and shook his head. “Dean,” he corrected before turning to the rest of his pack and assessing their catch. Three does was a good meal. 

“Alright, as usual; eat here, drag the leftovers back to camp,” Dean ordered.

As the pack tucked in, Jack backed off and lay on the ground patiently, waiting for his turn. He tilted his head when Dean shuffled backwards and gestured him over. He slunk towards the alpha warily, ears flat and tail tucked between his legs and he frowned when Dean sat down and motioned to his place at the doe’s chest. 

“You caught it; you eat first. ‘S only fair,” Dean commented.

Jack hesitated nervously. 

“Go on,” chuckled Dean. “You earned it.”

Jack startled when Sam gently nudged him towards the doe. 

“I can’t eat before the Alpha!” Jack spluttered with wide eyes. “I’m just an Omega!”

Dean rolled his eyes and pushed Jack closer to their meal before padding towards one of the doe’s back legs. “How about we eat together then, hm?” 

Jack glanced around the other wolves in a sort of fascinated horror as they ate before he licked his lips and took a cautious bite of the meat, eyes flitting between the older wolves as he did so, as though expecting to be mauled for his disrespectfulness. When Sam smiled at him encouragement, Jack began to relax and he dug in to the meal with renewed delight. 

Once they had finished, the pack carried half a doe back to camp for the few that had remained there. As they travelled, Adam sneaked a few covert glances at Jack and dropped his gaze in embarrassment when he was caught. The omega wagged his tail and trotted over. 

“Is there something you need?” Adam coughed, tilting his chin in order to hide his shame.

“You were watching me,” Jack smiled. “Why were you watching me?” 

Adam looked everywhere but at Jack. “I was… I was making sure you weren’t going to try anything funny. You know… because you’re a stranger and we know nothing about you.” 

Jack’s expression fell and Adam winced as the omega lowered his head submissively.

“I was watching you because you impressed me,” admitted Adam quietly. “With your hunting, I mean.” 

Perking up again, Jack grinned at Adam. “Really? Why?”

Snorting, Adam shook his head and shifted his gaze to the omega. “You weigh half as much as both of my brothers and yet you managed to bring a deer down all by yourself.” 

“I had some help,” Jack protested. “And it’s not that impressive. My old pack used to be able to bring them down much faster.” 

“Don’t sell yourself short,” drawled a voice behind them, and both teens turned to find Benny and Jo blatantly eavesdropping. “You’ve got skills, pup,” Benny continued, winking at Jack. 

Jack’s tail wiggled and a noticeable spring entered his step as they continued their journey back to camp.

A smile quirked Adam’s lip. Maybe Jack wasn’t too bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry! I forgot to update yesterday! You can have two chapters today as an apology! 
> 
> Also, from now on, updates will be Wednesdays and Saturdays :)


	8. Chapter 8

“It’s nice to be alone for once,” commented Gabriel as pink cherry blossoms fluttered in the breeze around them. “Means no one will be able to hear the things I plan on doing to you.” He wiggled his eyebrows as he leaned into Sam and the omega chuckled before shoving him away. 

“Can you go one day without thinking about sex?” Sam teased. “You’re wearing me out.”

Gabriel tutted. “Who said anything about sex? I meant that no one will be able to hear you scream when I murder you and sell your pelt to a rich city billionaire. Come on, Samshine – mind out of the gutter.” 

Sam rolled his eyes and continued walking with no particular direction in mind, but he smiled when Gabriel sidled up to him and rubbed his golden head under his chin. The alpha was such a softie at heart. 

Obliging, Sam scent-marked Gabriel and nuzzled his floppy ear as they padded through the forest.

The summer air was warm and sweet and Gabriel had decided it was the perfect day for a romantic walk to nowhere. Despite having spent over three years as the object of Gabriel’s affections, Sam was still fairly surprised by such random romantic gestures (largely due to his time spent with Ruby), which meant that he had yet to refuse any of Gabriel’s attentions since some idiotic and insecure part of his brain kept whispering that one day Gabriel may grow bored of him the same way Ruby had and he would have to say goodbye to all these tender moments. 

After the run-in with Gabriel’s brothers, there was also that horrible fear of him losing the golden alpha in a horrendous accident. 

Logically, Sam knew that Gabriel was nothing like Ruby. He knew that the alpha loved him and he knew that the likelihood of Gabriel having another nasty meeting with his brothers was slim to none, but that didn’t stop the occasional nightmare where Sam woke up panting and terrified and scrambling for Gabriel. 

Gabriel was incredibly understanding. Whenever Sam had a nightmare (be it about Jessica, Ruby, or Gabriel himself), the alpha was always right there to cuddle and whisper sweet soothing words. In turn, Sam offered Gabriel comfort and reassurance whenever the alpha questioned his value to the pack. 

Learning to adapt to wild folk culture when you had lived your whole life in a city was difficult and mistakes were bound to happen. It didn’t help when your parents and older brothers had insulted you and made you out to be useless for forty-three years of your life and sometimes, Gabriel slipped into old habits and snapped at someone or made a snide remark that he immediately regretted. 

Gabriel always apologised and the pack understood and never confronted him, even when Gabriel believed they should. They were kind to him and made allowances for forty-three years of forced independence and it succeeded in making Gabriel feel even more guilty about projecting his frustrations onto them; particularly Dean, who was the most likely recipient of his verbal lashings. 

It didn’t happen too often, but when Gabriel and Dean were engaged in an argument over something ridiculous (usually, but not limited to, some sort of prank), Gabriel sometimes had a flashback to a fight with his father or one of his brothers and the pack would see the moment he tensed up and stopped seeing Dean as _Dean._ He would make a cutting comment about Dean or his leadership (and on one memorable occasion, he had just bared his teeth and _growled_ ) and he would hide his own intimidation and insecurities by deflecting them onto Dean, as he had done many times with the Novak alphas when he thought he was about to be attacked. 

When their relationship was still new and uncertain, Dean had snapped insults back and Sam had often had to pull one alpha away from the other for fear of their argument progressing to something more physical. Now though, Dean had learned why Gabriel reacted as he sometimes did and he would immediately adopt an unthreatening stance and fall silent. It was usually enough to tear Gabriel from whatever nightmare he was reliving and the golden alpha would bow his head in shame and apologise profusely to Dean. 

These were the days that Sam would have to reassure his mate that he was loved and wanted and _no,_ Dean didn’t hate him, nor did anyone else in the pack. 

“Sam.”

The chocolate omega was dragged out of his musings by Gabriel’s urgent command. He shifted his gaze to the alpha and found him sniffing the air with a frown. Curious, Sam scented the air as well and promptly froze. 

“Azazel,” he growled, glancing around the trees warily. “He’s found us.”

“Could be a coincidence,” Gabriel suggested weakly. “Maybe he doesn’t know we’re here.” 

“Either way, we need to tell Dean ASAP,” Sam huffed, nudging Gabriel back the way they came and making sure to stay close to his side in case anyone attempted to ambush them. “We need to decide whether we’re going to move or defend our territory and chase Azazel and his mutts off.” 

“I like our camp,” Gabriel scowled. “It’s perfect for summer – fresh water from the stream, an abundance of fruit trees, good hunting grounds close by, plenty of sunlight… we’ll be hard-pressed to find another place like it.” 

Sam nodded in agreement. “Which is why I think we might have to prepare ourselves for a scuffle. Not that I’m complaining.” 

Gabriel grinned and broke into a run. “Come on then, kiddo! Azazel’s ass isn’t gonna kick itself!”

Sam smirked and chased after his lover.

* * *

Embarrassed didn’t even begin to cover how Lucifer felt. Ashamed, humiliated, disgusted with himself were all far more fitting adjectives. 

Four days had passed since the river incident and Lucifer loathed every second of the memory.

Michael and Raphael had both managed to catch a fish and the only thing he had managed to do was nearly drown. The icing on the cake was Michael had warned him that he would fall into the river and Lucifer had proceeded to do exactly that. Being the screwup that he was, he once again had to rely on his big brother to prove that he was the better alpha of the two of them by saving his life. His parents had always told him to be more like Michael and honestly, Lucifer understood why. 

Michael had always been better than him. The better son, the better businessman, the better alpha, the better leader… Lucifer had always been second at everything. 

He knew he shouldn’t have snapped at Michael after his brother had saved his life, but he couldn’t help it. Michael had been so gentle with him, so worried about him – he had seen it in his brother’s eyes, smelled it in his scent… 

But Novaks weren’t supposed to be soft. Alphas weren’t supposed to coddle one another. Michael treating him like that meant that he thought Lucifer was weak, just like their parents did. Michael felt that he had to take charge because Lucifer couldn’t take care of himself. Michael was once again proving that he was better than Lucifer and the frustrating thing was Lucifer knew that he was _right_. Michael had caught a fish where he hadn’t, Michael had saved his life when Lucifer hadn’t been able to crawl out of the river himself, Michael had dried him off because Lucifer was too traumatised to do so. 

It wasn’t fair.

Lucifer had pinned his brother to the ground and it felt good to finally win at something for once; to have his brother submitting to him. Michael’s whisper still haunted him. _Luci, you nearly died._ As if his brother actually cared about him. As if his older brother wasn’t merely proving a point about how stupid and useless Lucifer was. He had almost believed that Michael actually loved him. 

He had struck his brother across the face because he wanted to see a repulsed sneer slide over Michael’s expression. He wanted to watch Michael’s features twist as he bit out insult after insult about how worthless Lucifer was and how he would always come second to his older brother. He wanted Michael to fight back and prove that he hated Lucifer in the same way that Lucifer wanted to hate him. 

Except none of that happened. Michael had fallen limp beneath him, eyes brimming with hurt and confusion, and Lucifer realised that he had made yet another mistake. 

He had yelled at Michael; blamed him in hopes that he would rise to the challenge or provide some sort of conformation of loathing for his little brother, and he pressed his claw into Michael’s throat for added bait. 

However, Michael had merely braced, as though expecting Lucifer to actually kill him and shame had gripped Lucifer’s gut as he hopped off his brother and stalked away. 

He regretted snapping at his brother. He regretted sinking his claws into his brother’s face. He regretted placing a paw against his throat. He regretted having too much pride to apologise. 

Four days later and Michael clearly hadn’t forgiven him – not that Lucifer blamed him. Neither of his brothers trusted him and Lucifer couldn’t protest that either. Lucifer wanted to go home and sulk in his room and shut the world out, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave his brothers’ sides. As much as he hated his brothers, he couldn’t be without them. 

They walked through the forest in a heavy silence with Lucifer trailing behind his brothers miserably. They had steered clear of the river and without the ability to fish, had been forced to survive off what little fruit they could find in the past four days. 

It seemed as though fortune was finally beginning to smile down on them as they stumbled across a small cluster of cherry trees and blackberry brambles. Wordlessly, the brothers parted to gorge themselves on fruit, uncertain as to when they would get another opportunity. 

As Lucifer carefully plucked a few blackberries from the thorny bush, he eyed his brothers thoughtfully. Perhaps they should stay here for a few days and rest? It wasn’t as though they had any particular destination in mind. 

“I spy with my little eye… three thieving alphas.”

The trio startled at the new voice and they spun around to face a scruffy-looking alpha with dusty brown and grey fur. He appeared to be blind in one eye if the scar was anything to judge by. 

Beside him stood a dirty blonde beta, his lips twisted into an ugly sneer.

“I don’t see your name written anywhere,” growled Lucifer, curling his lips to reveal his canines. He wasn’t about to be chased away from his lunch by a couple of cocky wild folk. 

The beta sniffed the air and muttered something to the alpha, who raised an eyebrow and scented the air himself before shooting Lucifer a wide, unsettling grin. 

“What are three big bad Novaks doing all alone in my forest?” asked the alpha, prowling closer.

“Passing through,” interrupted Michael before Lucifer could bite out a sarcastic remark. “We’re not staying here, just passing through. We stopped for nourishment.” 

“I see,” hummed the strange alpha with a sympathetic expression. “Last I heard, you were out here with a search party, looking for your wayward brothers and your brat of a nephew. Must have been, what? At least two years ago? Heard you got your asses handed to you.” The alpha grinned with too many teeth. “Coming back for a second round, are we?” 

Lucifer bristled and Michael narrowed his eyes at the stranger.

“It’s none of your business why we’re here. And if you’re familiar with the Novak reputation, you would be wise to leave us be. We’ll be gone soon,” Michael warned. 

The scruffy alpha chuckled. “I take that as a _no_ then?” He flicked his gaze around the Novaks. “Definitely not planning an attack with only three of you. Shame, really. Those Winchesters could do with a beatdown.” 

Michael eyed the intruder sharply and the other alpha smirked. “Oh, I have a… let’s say a _strained_ relationship with the Winchesters. If you wanted to skin Dean’s mate in front of him, well… I wouldn’t complain.” 

Michael growled softly, “That’s my brother you’re talking about.”

The stranger tilted his head, one eyebrow cocked thoughtfully. “Thought you didn’t care about him?” 

Michael clamped his mouth shut and turned his back on the stranger. “We’ll be finished in a few minutes. We’ll leave your territory once we have.” 

Raphael sidled up to him with a wary expression and whispered, “Lyons. They’re from the Lyons pack.”

Michael frowned. “Who?” 

“ _Azazel Lyons,_ ” hissed Raphael. “They call themselves _The Fallen._ Winchester enemy number one, excluding us?”

Michael stiffened and eyed their unwelcome visitors as he subtly scented the air. “On second thought,” he said carefully, “we’re ready to leave. Come, Lucifer.”

Lucifer tensed. “Now wait a minute. We might not get another opportunity to eat like this!”

The alpha and beta smiled unnervingly and Michael realised that he had revealed their identity twice in the space of a minute. 

“We don’t want to start any fights, do we, brother?” Michael said pointedly, flicking his gaze to the strangers and back to Lucifer once more. 

“Screw them,” snapped Lucifer. “They don’t own the forest. We’re not bothering anyone.”

“Lucifer,” Michael growled. “I said _let’s go._ ” 

“Am I to understand that you boys have had a change in heart?” asked the brown and grey alpha as though the Novaks hadn’t spoken. “Is it possible that you three… _regret_ shooting your little brother?” 

Michael went rigid as Lucifer and Raphael whipped around to stare at the other alpha.

“I’ve heard rumours,” commented the stranger with a shrug. “News travels quickly in these forests. Especially anything to do with the _illustrious_ Winchester pack. So, is it true? Have the fierce Novak sons grown soft?” 

“We’re leaving,” Michael stated as he herded his brothers away from the other wolves.

“Stay,” insisted the scruffy alpha. “We wouldn’t like you boys to go hungry now, would we? Must be hard for city-bred wolves to adapt to life in the wild. Please, make yourselves comfortable. What’s ours is yours.” 

“See? They said-”

“I know what they said,” Michael hissed at Lucifer. “But we’re leaving right now.” 

“We can take them,” whispered Lucifer. “Three against two.”

“They’re from _The Fallen_. For all we know, that alpha could be Azazel Lyons himself,” growled Michael. “And if it is, his pack is bound to be close. I don’t fancy our chances in a fight against the wild’s most powerful pack, second only to the Winchesters. Or have you forgotten the stories we were taught?” 

Lucifer’s jaw clicked shut and he scowled as he followed his brothers away from the two strangers. His stomach groaned at him and he grumbled moodily to himself. 

“Do shut up, Lucifer,” huffed Michael. “We’re all hungry.”

“At least you actually managed to eat a fish at the river,” sneered Lucifer. “I’ve lived off mouthfuls of berries for the past how many weeks?” 

“Then you shouldn’t have tried to drown yourself,” Raphael muttered, making Michael snort in amusement.

“Watch it,” growled Lucifer. 

“Why? Going to claw my face open?” Raphael sneered, forcing Lucifer to fall silent.

“And you wonder why people think you’re aggressive,” muttered Michael. 

Lucifer dropped behind them, ears flat and tail tucked. Venturing into the wild was supposed to provide an escape from all the insults and abuse everyone kept hurling at the Novaks – apparently that sentiment didn’t apply to Lucifer since his brothers were obviously intent on reminding him of exactly who and what he was. 

Likely due to him falling behind his brothers, Lucifer was the first to hear the galloping beat of multiple paws.

He turned, briefly, and gasped before shoving harshly at his brothers. “Run!” 

Michael and Raphael turned with matching scowls, only to yelp at the sight of over twenty snarling alphas, betas, and omegas sprinting towards them with their teeth bared and grins playing about their lips. At the head of the group was the grey and brown alpha and the Novaks knew instantly that he was indeed Azazel. 

They broke into a run but being injured from the river, Lucifer was slower than his brothers and it wasn’t long before The Fallen caught up to him. Four wolves took Lucifer down like he was a fleeing doe and he cried out in agony as they sunk their teeth and claws into him. 

Michael and Raphael slowed in alarm and it provided the pack with an opportunity to pounce. Michael and Raphael stood no chance against the onslaught of practically all of Azazel’s pack tearing into them and they howled at the excruciating pain of hundreds of teeth and claws ripping into skin, like hundreds of sharpened knives. 

“I don’t like city mongrels,” growled Azazel as he clamped his jaws around Michael’s neck and shook him like a ragdoll. He dropped him and watched his pack gleefully ravage the white alpha. “In fact, whenever I see a city mongrel in my forest, I kill them. There are only a few things I hate more than city mongrels, and one of them is Novaks. Now, you three seem to fall into both of those categories, so guess what I’m going to do to you?” 

Michael couldn’t answer even if he had wanted to; there were wolves yanking at his legs, wolves clawing at his chest and stomach, and one wolf had her jaws clamped around his throat, on her way to crushing his windpipe. 

“Kill Michael first. Make sure it hurts,” drawled Azazel. “And make his brothers watch.”

The assault on Lucifer and Raphael suddenly paused and the two younger Novaks were pinned to the ground and forced to watch fifteen wolves lay into their older brother. 

Michael screamed as his fur was painted with red and his brothers struggled desperately against their attackers to no avail. White fur and blood spattered the ground and finally, Michael began to sob with fear and agony. His attackers laughed and crowed and jeered as they tore him apart, their faces and paws slick with fresh blood, and Michael’s brothers cried out to him frantically, tears filling their eyes as they came to the realisation that this was the end for all of them. 

A battle cry rang through the forest.

Azazel flicked his gaze to the distant trees as his pack paused their assault and pricked their ears up. 

A sandy figure approached them at speed, closely followed by a large, familiar pack.

Azazel snarled at the intruders before barking sharply at his own pack. They shared startled and wary glances and quickly followed their leader in the opposite direction of the howling intruders. 

Bewildered by the sudden departure of their attackers, Lucifer and Raphael stumbled over to Michael in hopes of guiding him away from the new threat – whoever could frighten The Fallen like that were obviously a force to be reckoned with – but as they neared their brother, they realised that running wasn’t going to be an option. 

“Michael!” whimpered Raphael as he lowered himself to his brother’s side, gaze roaming over his bloodied body and broken bones. He was littered with gaping wounds and bruises and torn skin and his eyes drooped half-closed with exhaustion. 

“You have to get up,” Raphael begged hysterically as he lapped at his brother’s wounds. “Michael, please! You can’t leave us! Not like this!” 

Lucifer swallowed down his nausea and turned to the pack racing towards them. He stood in front of his brothers and bared his teeth. It was laughable for him to face down an entire pack by himself, but he wasn’t about to let them kill his brothers without a fight. 

“Raphael, run,” he ordered.

Raphael stared at him incredulously. “No.” 

“I’m giving you a chance to survive this,” Lucifer snarled at his brother. “Michael’s half-dead and we’ll never escape them if we both run. So, get out of here! I’ll get you some time.” He turned back to the howling pack and snarled loudly at them, watching as they began to slow. 

Suddenly, Raphael pressed into his side and stared up at him sadly. “I’m not leaving you both,” he whispered and in a moment of weakness, Lucifer tucked his brother’s head under his chin and breathed his scent in deeply, wanting it to be the last smell he remembered before he died. 

Raphael whined quietly and leaned into the embrace before the pair reluctantly parted and readied themselves for a fight that they were destined to lose. 

If they were about to die, at least they would be together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, constructive criticism, comments, and suggestions always welcome :)


	9. Chapter 9

Determination had flared in Dean’s gaze the moment Azazel’s name had been mentioned. In hindsight, it had been obvious that he would choose to defend their little slice of Heaven. 

“We’ll catch them off-guard and scare them off,” announced Dean as the pack stood to attention, waiting for orders. “They’ll think twice about fighting us if they’re playing defence. They’re smaller than us too – if Azazel’s smart, he’ll run.” He flicked his gaze to Pam. “You alright staying behind to keep an eye on the pups, Pam?” 

The blind beta snorted in amusement and Dean grimaced at the poor choice in wording. “Yeah, I’ll take good care of them – I have eyes like a bat.” 

The pack snickered as Dean grinned in embarrassment. “Okay, awesome. As for the rest of us, don’t engage if you don’t have to. We just want to chase them off; no point picking a fight if we don’t need to.” 

When the pack nodded in understanding, Sam and Gabriel led them out of the camp at a trot to where they had first scented Azazel’s pack. It wasn’t long before the scents grew stronger and soon enough, they spotted Azazel’s pack tearing into what was most likely a couple of deer. 

However, as they neared the other pack, bodies low to the ground and steps silent, they began to realise that Azazel and his pack weren’t actually eating. They appeared to be torturing their prey; clawing and tearing at them and laughing when they struggled. 

Dean wrinkled his nose. He knew Azazel was sadistic, but he didn’t think he was twisted enough to make his meals suffer. If they chased Azazel’s pack off now, Dean and his pack could end the poor does’ suffering. 

The Winchester pack crouched into sprinting positions and Dean counted down quietly before springing towards Azazel’s pack, his own pack hot on his heels. They howled out battle cries and snarled and snapped as they rocketed towards Azazel and they whooped in triumph when the other pack startled and turned tail. They continued to run until Azazel’s pack had disappeared between the trees and it was then that they noticed that their enemies hadn’t been torturing deer. 

Dean slowed to a halt, eyes wide with shock as a wounded Lucifer and Raphael snarled at him and his pack, their bodies shielding something white and red from view. The Winchester pack stood behind Dean, equally surprised, and they scented the air warily, attempting to ascertain the whereabouts of the rest of the Novak ‘pack’. 

They watched realisation light Lucifer and Raphael’s gazes and strangely, the pair licked their lips in nervousness.

Suddenly, their eyes widened and Dean followed their gazes to Gabriel, who shifted his weight and took an uncomfortable step backwards. Immediately, Sam pressed into his side and growled threateningly at the two Novaks. 

Dean shuffled closer to Cas and narrowed his eyes. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you both.”

Raphael swallowed and hobbled backwards until he was straddling the white thing on the ground. Lucifer gave a half-hearted rumble. 

“We didn’t even know you were here,” Lucifer scowled.

“Then why are you so close to our territory?” Dean snapped, lurching forwards as he bared his teeth. 

Raphael flinched and Lucifer limped backwards.

“We didn’t know,” Lucifer growled. 

“If that’s true, then why aren’t you holed up in your nice, safe mansion with mommy and daddy? Why are you out here? Did daddy send you on another mission to kill your nephew? Or maybe you want a second shot at Gabriel?” Dean snarled. “Well? Which is it?” 

“Gabriel?”

Dean blinked at the weak voice and he sniffed the air and realised that Raphael and Lucifer weren’t alone. He glared at the white thing they were protecting. 

“If it isn’t Mr. Trigger-Happy himself. Face us, you coward.”

Raphael growled at Dean as Lucifer slowly moved out of the way and Dean’s sneer faded at the blood staining Michael’s fur. Those open wounds looked agonising and… was that back leg broken? Azazel’s pack had truly done a number on him. 

Michael managed to lift his head and he stared at Gabriel in pure shock before something akin to relief flooded his gaze. “You’re alive,” he whispered, a tiny smile pulling at his lips. 

Gabriel remained silent.

“We were worried,” Michael murmured as he placed his head on the ground once more, eyes closing. 

Gabriel frowned.

“The pups and Pam. This could be a distraction,” Castiel muttered urgently and Dean nodded before turning to Becky and Chuck. 

“Check the camp,” he ordered. “Make sure there are no wandering Novaks. You see anything suspicious and you howl for us, got it?” 

The two betas nodded quickly and bounded towards the camp, leaving Dean to wonder what to do with the three Novak brothers. 

“You didn’t answer my question. Why are you in the wild?” Dean demanded.

Lucifer tilted his chin. “None of your business.” 

Dean snarled and surged towards the larger alpha, snapping at him viciously. “It’s absolutely my business!” he roared, making Lucifer stumble backwards. “Last time you were here, you wanted to kill my pup and torture my mate! You shot my brother-in-law and nearly killed him! I’ve half a mind to thank Azazel for tearing you all to shreds! Now, I’m losing my patience. _Why are you here?”_

“We were disowned,” Raphael replied quickly before Lucifer could respond. “Our parents kicked us out for questioning orders. We moved to California to start again but… it didn’t go as planned. We weren’t particularly welcomed there.” 

“You’re not particularly welcome here,” snapped Sam.

“We guessed,” hissed Lucifer, gesturing to his collapsed brother. 

“We thought we could escape,” said Raphael softly. “Just for a bit. Everyone hates us and it’s hard to convince people that we’ve changed when they won’t even give us a chance. Coming out here was supposed to be a break from all the abuse.” He cast his gaze to Michael. “We obviously made yet another mistake.” 

“Changed?” Castiel frowned warily. “How have you changed?”

“We’re sorry,” Michael whispered, unable to meet Castiel’s gaze. “For hunting you. For threatening to kill your son. We’re sorry for making you seek refuge out here.” 

“We told Father that you wanted to remain out here,” Raphael added. “We told him that he was wrong for trying to force you back to us – that we were wrong for making you so unhappy. We told him that we didn’t need people to fear us to make them respect us.” Raphael lowered his ears. “He… ah… he didn’t take it well. Said being out here had made us unwell and that we should take a break from the family and only return once we were feeling ourselves again.” 

“Except we don’t want to return,” Michael offered. “Not to Mother and Father anyway. Not after everything they’ve done. We were hoping to start our own lives… Try to be the family we should have been…” A grimace twisted Michael’s mouth as his injuries flared. 

Castiel frowned and shook his head slowly. “I don’t believe you,” he whispered. “You’re lying.”

Lucifer growled quietly and narrowed his eyes at Castiel. “We aren’t. Do you honestly think we’d be bleeding to death out here, alone, if we were still following Dad’s orders?” 

“Forty years of you treating me like shit, degrading me with terms such as ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ and ‘bitch’, beating me black and blue when I so much as _looked_ at you, and you expect me to believe that you’ve suddenly had a change in heart? You expect me to believe that you want us to be a _family_?” Castiel snarled, hackles raised and canines bared. “You tried to kill my son. You tried to kill my mate. You nearly killed the only brother I actually consider a brother! Excuse me if I don’t welcome you into my life with open arms!” 

He pressed into Dean’s side pointedly. “I have found my family. I have found people who love and care for me. Don’t you dare tell me that you’re sorry; not after everything you’ve done. You can bleed out right here for all I care. You mean absolutely _nothing_ to me,” he hissed and the pack glanced at him, impressed, some members wagging their tails or smiling at him fondly. 

Dean nuzzled his head lovingly and hoped Cas could smell the pride and satisfaction rolling off him.

Lucifer growled at Castiel but he backed down when a few pack members snarled at him, warning him to stay away from their packmate. 

“Leave us to die then,” snapped Lucifer angrily. “But at least let us do so in peace. If we wanted to be yelled at, we would have stayed in the city.” 

“Where you should have stayed,” Castiel snarled.

“I’d love to hear you say that without your _pack_ backing you up,” hissed Lucifer. 

Castiel prowled forwards with a stormy glare. “I’d love to see you do _anything_ without Father backing you up.”

Lucifer clamped his mouth shut and stared coldly at Castiel, and the omega stalked back to Dean and pressed into his side. 

Michael groaned softly and sagged to the floor.

“If they want to die, we might as well leave them to it,” Sam huffed as he cast his gaze to Dean, who nodded in agreement and turned to his pack. 

“You heard them. Let’s go. We’re obviously not wanted here.”

“Dean,” scolded Jody. “You’re not seriously going to leave them like this, are you?” 

Dean frowned in confusion. “Why not?”

The black beta shook her head and gestured to Michael. “You leave him like that and you’re no better than him.” 

Dean’s frown deepened. “Now hang on a minute… It’s not as though I did any of that to him. And after what he did to our pack, I don’t see why we should waste our supplies helping him.” 

“Dean, you can’t leave him to bleed out alone in the middle of the forest. They probably don’t have a single bandage between them,” Jody sighed. “Leaving Michael in that state is practically a death sentence.” 

“Why do you care?” Bobby cut in with a scowl. “You know what they’re like. You know what they did to us; what they wanted to do to their own brothers and nephew. I’m with Sam and Dean – let them rot here.” There were a few nods of agreement amongst the rest of the pack and Jody’s mouth drew into a thin line. 

“Look, trust me, I’m hardly their greatest fan. However, I can’t in good conscience leave someone to suffer in intense pain, knowing that they can’t even begin to help themselves. If those wounds get infected, he’s not going to last long and that’s if the shock doesn’t get to him first. I’m not asking you to take him back to camp, I’m just asking you to let me take a look at him.” 

“If the roles were reversed,” asked Dean quietly, “do you think they would grant you the same kindness?”

Jody flicked her gaze to the three silent Novaks. “No,” she admitted softly. “But we’re supposed to be better than them. Besides, what if they’re telling the truth? What if they really have changed?” 

“They’ve not,” said Castiel lowly. “They’ll never change.”

Jody closed her eyes tiredly. “Five minutes, Dean. That’s all I ask. Just let me clean him up and then we can leave. If they die after that… well it’s not our problem.” 

Dean exhaled slowly. He knew that Jody hated pain and suffering when there was something that she could do about it – it probably had a lot to do with her role as pack medic. He couldn’t say that he fully understood her need to help the Novak brothers after everything they had done, but maybe he was a little biased when it came to the welfare and safety of his mate and pup.

“Fine,” he said after a moment. “You can have five minutes.” He turned a narrowed gaze upon the three Novaks. “If any of you so much as look at Jody wrong, I’ll make you wish Azazel had slaughtered you.”

Lucifer and Raphael eyed Dean warily. When Jody approached, they seemed reluctant to allow her near Michael, but they eventually stepped out of the way and averted their gazes when she shifted into her human form.

She poked and prodded at Michael, extended limbs until he whimpered softly and explored wounds with gentle fingers. She smeared creams and ointments over his injuries, bandaged the largest gashes and fractured ribs and splinted the broken leg, and when she had finished, she returned to her canine form.

“It looks worse than it is,” she offered. “Most of it is superficial, other than the broken leg and a couple of fractured ribs. Just don’t put any weight on them for at least a week, preferably two or more.”

Michael stared up at her in surprise as she padded towards the Winchester pack. “Thank you,” he said softly, making her raise her eyebrows.

“Alright, let’s go,” Dean mumbled quieter than he would have liked. The pack turned away from the three Novaks and began the journey back to camp, but not before Michael threw one last parting remark at them.

“It’s good to see you, Gabriel. I’ll never forgive myself for what I did, but I’m so happy that you’re alive.”

The Winchester pack said nothing as they left the Novaks behind them, but they soon realised that one of their members wasn’t following them and they paused to look at him. 

“Gabe?” Sam queried in confusion as Gabriel stood rooted to the ground, head low and eyes closed. “What’s wrong?” 

Gabriel flicked his gaze to the three alphas behind him and after a moment, he blew out a long breath and raised his gaze to his mate. 

“They’re sexist and cruel and underhanded and the biggest bag of dicks I have ever had the displeasure of knowing,” he grumbled. “But… they’re still my brothers.” 

“What are you saying?” Sam frowned.

Gabriel sat down with a sigh. “I can’t leave them out here to die. Look at them. Even if they head straight back to the city, it’s a five-day walk from here and they’re already broken. I doubt they’ll make it back.” 

“Gabriel,” Sam protested. “They tried to kill you. You don’t owe them anything.”

“Technically they tried to kill Dean,” Gabriel mumbled. “I got in the way. And I know they’re awful people and they drove Cas out of his home and threatened Samandriel and set our camp on fire, but there was a time when they weren’t like that. It was a very long time ago and Novak conditioning quickly put an end to it, but there was a time when we were all just regular kids who played together and loved each other. We didn’t always hate one another.” 

“I don’t remember it,” said Castiel sharply. “In fact, I don’t have a single fond memory of any of them. I’ve always been filth in their eyes.” 

Gabriel hesitated. “That’s… that’s not quite true. When you were born, we were never away from you. We couldn’t wait to come home from school and see you. We fed you and played with you and bathed you and put you to bed. We couldn’t get enough of you.” Gabriel dropped his gaze. “And then we were told that because you were an omega and we were alphas, we weren’t allowed to do any of that stuff anymore.” 

Castiel frowned for a moment before shaking his head. “Even if that’s true, it doesn’t change anything. I’ve been bullied and ridiculed and sneered at for nearly forty years by our so-called brothers. The only person who has stuck by me through all that time is you, Gabriel.” 

“We can’t leave them to die, Cas,” Gabriel insisted. “They’re our brothers.”

“No, they’re not,” snapped Castiel. 

Knowing he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Cas, he turned to Dean with a pleading gaze. “Please, Dean. Just until I know they’re healed enough to get home on their own.” 

Dean’s eyes widened in alarm. “Wait, are you asking if they can stay with us? Seriously?”

Gabriel nodded; head lowered respectfully. “I’ll take full responsibility of them. One wrong move and you can throw them out on their asses. Heck, you can throw me out on my ass too. Please, Dean. Give them a chance – like you did for me.” 

“Absolutely not,” scoffed Dean. “You came here to take care of Cas and Samandriel. They came to punish Cas and kill Samandriel. See the difference? I ain’t letting them anywhere near my pack.” 

Gabriel’s ears flattened. “And I get that you’re doing what’s best for your pack and usually, I wouldn’t ask anything of you that might put your family in danger, but… they’re my _brothers_. I grew up with them. I can’t leave them to suffer. You were willing to give your dad a chance, remember?” 

Sam snorted. “Yeah, and look how well that turned out.”

Gabriel’s mouth drew downwards. “Please,” he begged softly. “Just one chance.” 

Dean’s gaze softened a fraction as he watched Gabriel bow his head. He shot the three older Novak brothers a hard stare and prowled towards them. 

“If I find out you’re lying to us, I’ll kill you. If you lay a claw on any of my pack, I’ll kill you. If you even think of bullying Cas or Gabe, guess what?” 

Raphael licked his lips. “…You’ll kill us?”

Dean smiled tightly. “I guess you aren’t as stupid as you look.” He craned his neck towards his pack. “You guys go back to camp. Sam and I will escort our _guests_ at the back of the pack – just in case they try anything funny.” He growled at the brothers in warning. 

Gabriel’s tail swayed lowly and he offered Dean a grateful smile before padding to his side obediently, as though awaiting orders. Dean cocked an eyebrow at him and gestured to his side and Gabriel’s tail wagged a little faster at the realisation that Dean wasn’t angry with him. 

Unlike Gabriel, Castiel walked with the rest of the pack, thick scowl carved onto his features and every so often he cast his gaze back to Dean, Sam and Gabe to check that they were still following. He very pointedly refused to look at the three older Novaks and honestly, Dean didn’t blame him. In fact, Dean was quite happy for Cas to never come into contact with his oldest brothers again and if that was what Cas wanted, then Dean would do all he could to make that happen. 

The journey passed without incident, although Raphael and Lucifer had to support Michael between them, and when they arrived at the camp, Dean quickly stepped in front of the brothers before they could enter. 

“You sleep on the outskirts of the camp, where I can see you,” he rumbled. “During the day, you may enter the camp and you don’t leave the camp without an escort. You treat every member of my pack with respect – that includes the pups. No bullying, fighting, or abuse towards any of my pack.” He raised his chin. “Leave the camp without an escort; don’t expect to be allowed back. Ignore any of my orders; we chase you out of our territory. Everyone pulls their own weight here, so if I ask you to do something, you do it, capisce? As long as you’re in our territory, I’m your alpha. You do as I say. If you have a problem with that, you can leave at any time; don’t get the impression that any of us actually want to waste our resources and time on your sorry asses.” 

Lucifer looked ready to bite out a snappy retort, but Michael merely nodded in understanding.

“Of course, Dean.” 

Just because he could, Dean narrowed his eyes and said, “That’s _alpha_ to you. Welcome to the very bottom of the pack. Don’t expect kindness because you don’t deserve it. You’re allowed to stay here until you’re fully healed and no longer, understand?” 

“Yes, Dean,” Raphael said, only to startle when Dean snarled at him. “Yes, alpha,” he corrected quickly.

Dean narrowed his eyes at the trio before turning and beginning to stalk away, but he paused when Gabriel piped up softly, “Thank you for giving them a chance, alpha.” 

With raised eyebrows, Dean whirled to face Gabriel. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled. “And I thought I told you to call me _Dean_?” 

Gabriel blinked in surprise. “I thought… y’know, since I was the one who asked if they could… and I understand if I’m not exactly in your good books right now… so, I just thought I’d better show you some respect since you’re doing this for me, and-” 

Dean cut Gabriel off as he rolled his eyes and padded over to him. He sat in front of the golden wolf and rubbed his chin over Gabriel’s head, marking him with his scent, and Gabriel released a shaky breath of relief as he leaned into the younger alpha. 

“I’m not angry with you,” Dean said simply. “And don’t start with that ‘alpha’ crap – we’re family. It’s _Dean_.”

Gabriel smiled weakly and pushed his head further under Dean’s. Dean spent a few moments marking him before finally pulling away and trotting off to find Cas. 

A smile lingered on Gabriel’s features as he watched Dean leave, but when he turned to face his dumbfounded brothers, the expression faded into a frown. 

Michael straightened, all traces of surprise vanishing as he regarded his younger brother. “Gabriel, I-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Gabriel growled quietly, eyes narrowed as he assessed each of his brothers in turn. “I don’t trust you and I hate that you’re anywhere near this pack. The only reason I asked Dean to take you in is because I know you won’t survive alone out here and I don’t want your corpses rotting on our doorstep, but I won’t stop you if you decide to leave.” He bared his teeth at Lucifer when the blond wolf opened his mouth, and Lucifer snapped his jaw shut in shock at his little brother’s disrespect. Gabriel never challenged him so openly – especially when their brothers were present. 

“You dare even think about hurting any of _my family_ whilst you’re here and it won’t be Dean who kills you. And if you so much as _look_ at Samandriel, at _my nephew_ , I’ll rip your throats out with my teeth while you sleep. Got it?” Gabriel hissed. 

His brothers’ eyes blew wide, stunned by his hostility and Gabriel gave one last warning growl before stalking away. 

He would protect his family at all costs, even if it meant fighting his brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The party's just getting started ;)


	10. Chapter 10

Bright moonlight filtered through the trees, casting the grass in shimmering patches of white. The pack settled down, chatting quietly under the twinkling stars as the youngest members dozed off beside their parents and guardians. Some wolves snuggled into one another despite the warm air, their hearts filled with the baser need to be close to those they cared about. Others lounged alone, lazy and carefree as they listened to the conversations around them, chipping in every so often with their own thoughts. It was peaceful and relaxing and held a certain sort of intimacy that the three wolves resting on the outskirts of the pack had never experienced. 

Raphael watched the Winchester pack silently and a strange ache formed in his chest when he flicked his gaze to his older brothers, who were sleeping at least four feet away either side of him. 

He exhaled slowly and cast his mind over the day’s events, particularly the actions of his younger brother.

Gabriel had never threatened them so brazenly. Gabriel was always the one who backed down or muttered snippy comments under his breath. On the rare occasions that he did yell or snarl at them, he was severely punished and over time, the beatings had taught him to bite his tongue and keep his opinions to himself. He was the smallest of all of them and as such, he tended to shy away from physical conflict, yet today he had bared his teeth at them and threatened to kill them.

And since when did Gabriel allow himself to be _marked_ by other alphas? He hadn’t let their mother and father touch him since he was fifteen, yet he had allowed the leader of the Winchester pack rub his scent all over him – as though he was a submissive omega in need of alpha protection.

So, did that mean that the wild had broken Gabriel, or made him stronger? 

Raphael wasn’t sure. However, he did know that he didn’t like Gabriel referring to the Winchesters as his _family_. They weren’t his family. Gabriel was a full-blooded Novak as was Castiel. The Winchesters were wild savages. They didn’t have families; they had packs and they survived by killing other packs. They were cold and cruel and vicious and Raphael had no idea what his little brothers saw in them. 

How had Castiel mated a wild alpha leader? Why had Dean let Samandriel live? Surely, the child should have been killed the moment Dean took Castiel as a mate? Isn’t that what the wild folk did? 

It was what Raphael’s father had advised him to do when he had married Lataesha.

Castiel must have been forced into mating Dean – there was no way that the Winchester leader could have possibly won him over. Castiel hated alphas. He probably didn’t even _like_ Dean, much less _love_ him. 

After all, that was what wild folk did, right? The alphas chose an omega to bear their child and that was the only use of an omega to the pack. Wild folk didn’t actually value omegas as individuals – they were there to make and raise pups and to satisfy any alphas that were in rut. That was what his teachers had taught him anyway. It was likely that Castiel had been knotted by every alpha in the Winchester pack. 

He would have been safer staying in the city. His dignity would have remained intact too, thought Raphael. Castiel had made a terrible mistake coming out here. 

Raphael’s head flopped onto his paws. Surely, Castiel couldn’t have meant all those things he had said earlier that day? About his older brothers meaning nothing to him? About not caring if they bled out in the middle of the forest? Raphael knew that he hadn’t exactly been the greatest of brothers to Castiel, but did the omega really despise him enough to not care if he died? That stung. Maybe he only said it to please Dean? Maybe he said it so he wouldn’t be punished for sympathising with them? 

That made sense. Gabriel was an alpha so he could speak up and ask Dean to take his brothers in, but Castiel was only an omega. He would have no say in pack decisions and he likely didn’t want to be reprimanded by his so-called _mate_ for speaking out of turn. None of them were particularly close to Castiel, but that didn’t mean he wanted them dead. 

Raphael smiled. Perhaps once they were healed, Castiel and Gabriel would return to the city with them willingly.

…And maybe their father would finally allow them back into the family.

* * *

Castiel believed that they should have left his brothers to die. 

He didn’t understand why Gabriel had begged to save them and he was more than a little ticked off by the golden alpha. He couldn’t believe that Dean had agreed to welcome them into the pack. 

He and Dean had argued in their shelter last night. Their hissed fight had resulted in Castiel accusing Dean of putting Samandriel at risk and a wounded expression had swept over Dean’s features, causing Castiel to wince and apologise for his unfair outburst. They had both sighed and Dean had explained that whilst he understood why Cas was upset, he couldn’t ignore Gabriel’s plea. 

Dean didn’t believe that the three Novak brothers deserved a second chance after everything they had done, but he had to respect that Gabriel couldn’t leave them to die and he told Cas as much, watching as his lover closed his eyes in defeat. 

That night, Dean curled around Castiel, Samandriel, and Ben and promised that no harm would come to them; that he would always protect them, no matter the cost. Finally, Castiel managed a weak smile and relaxed into his mate and pups. 

This morning, there was a definite change in Dean.

The alpha had spent over an hour grooming and scent-marking his mate and pups. At first, Castiel thought Dean had suffered through some sort of horrific nightmare without telling him, but now he was beginning to wonder if the alpha had hit his rut early. 

It wasn’t only his mate and pups that Dean had decided to mark.

Sam and Adam had greeted Dean that morning and Dean had exchanged pleasantries with them before rubbing his scent all over them without even seeming to notice. Sam and Adam had shared confused glances but hadn’t commented and went their separate ways soon after. 

Charlie and Jo had trotted over to see if they could gather any information as to what would be happening with their ‘guests’ that day – they were always on the lookout for gossip – and Dean had informed them that due to their injuries, there wasn’t much that the Novaks could do, which meant they were to stay at the camp where they could be supervised. Then, he squeezed between both omegas and scent-marked them for a solid five minutes. Bewildered, but not the kind of people to shy away from affection, Charlie and Jo merely scent-marked Dean back and he smiled at them warmly before carrying on his way. 

Dean somehow managed to subtly (or not-so-subtly) mark every single omega and beta within his camp and no one said a word until he reached Crowley. 

“Not that I’m protesting this heart-warming display of affection,” drawled the black alpha amusedly as Dean very pointedly butted heads with him and rubbed their cheeks together, “but is there any reason that you’re marking every single member of the pack as yours? I would have said something when you practically draped yourself over Meg, but I was too stunned over the fact that she didn’t bite your face off.” 

Dean frowned and reared backwards. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Crowley cocked an eyebrow. “I thought your rut had come early – you’ve been rubbing up against every omega and beta in the pack.” He frowned. “However, now you’ve snuggled up with me too, I’m not so sure. Is everything alright, Dean?” 

Dean’s brows furrowed deeper, as though he hadn’t even noticed his affectionate behaviour. “Yeah, I’m fine. Definitely not starting a rut.” He took a step backwards and plopped onto his rump ungracefully. “How are you, Crowley?” 

The other alpha stared at him for a long moment before shrugging and answering the question. They had a pleasant but otherwise meaningless conversation and Dean skulked away only to immediately rub himself all over Benny. 

Startled, Benny sprung to his paws and gave Dean a bewildered expression. “You sure you’re okay, brother?”

Dean blinked and flattened his ears when he realised what he had done. “I think so. I’m sorry, man, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” He scrunched his nose. “Is it just me or does something smell wrong? I noticed it last night but it’s really strong today.” 

Benny tilted his head and sniffed the air curiously. “I don’t smell anything wrong. Other than those Novak alphas,” he huffed. 

Lucifer shot him a dark look and Benny smiled back sweetly. Dean growled quietly at Lucifer and placed himself in front of Benny, shielding him from Lucifer’s line of sight. 

When Lucifer narrowed his eyes, Dean made a show of marking Benny’s head and neck and once he was satisfied, he glowered at the blond alpha until Lucifer slunk away with a disturbed expression. Dean huffed and flicked his gaze to Benny, who blinked back at him with wide eyes. 

Suddenly, Bobby began to snicker and Dean flashed Benny an embarrassed smile before trotting over to the old alpha. 

“Care to explain what’s so funny?” Dean muttered under his breath, resisting the urge to rub up against the other alpha. 

Bobby’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Not worked it out yet, _alpha_?”

Dean wrinkled his nose and shook his head. He didn’t like Bobby calling him _alpha_. It wasn’t right. 

“You sure you can’t think of a single reason why you might be scent-marking every member of your pack?” Bobby grinned. “Even the alphas?” 

Brows furrowed, Dean shook his head again.

“Do you think it has anything to do with another lead alpha in your territory?” Bobby drawled, gesturing to Michael. “Maybe you’re feeling… protective? A little possessive even?” 

A few amused mutters passed around the pack and Michael, who had so far been skulking around the outskirts of the camp, raised his gaze to Bobby and Dean curiously. 

Dean swallowed. “I’m not possessive,” he protested. “Besides, it’s not as though any of you are going to join the Novak pack.” He narrowed a glare at the white wolf. “Although according to what he’s told us, he’s been kicked out of the Novak pack anyway – so I’ve really got nothing to worry about.” 

“Not possessive, huh?” muttered Bobby.

Dean ducked his head and scowled at Bobby before rubbing his chin and head all over the older wolf’s body in what he hoped came across as an act of defiance rather than an act of desperation. Bobby chuckled and leaned into the younger alpha, seemingly unbothered by the possessive display. 

Once Dean had finished, he scowled at Michael one last time before pacing towards Castiel and pressing into him with a huff. 

“You’ve missed Gabriel, Gadreel, and Balthazar,” smirked Cas.

“Shut up,” grumbled Dean even as his gaze flicked between the three and his skin began to itch with a need to mark them. 

From across the camp, Gabriel flashed Dean a devilish smirk and Dean groaned under his breath as the golden alpha trotted towards him, Sam biting back laughter by his side. 

When Gabriel reached Dean, he flipped onto his back and moaned loudly, “Yeah, gorgeous, mark me up. Make me yours. Show everyone who I belong to.” 

“I’m going to kill you,” grumbled Dean as he eyed Gabriel’s exposed belly.

Gabriel’s smile grew wider as a few pack members snickered and wolf-whistled at them. He wagged his tail and winked at Dean before throwing his head back with a pornographic groan. “I’m ready for you. Come on, alpha, rub up against me. Rub that strong body all over me.” 

“Pups,” Castiel reminded quietly despite his smile and Gabriel offered him an apologetic look before beaming at Dean again. 

Suddenly, Lucifer’s lips curled in disgust and he sneered at his younger brother from the opposite side of the camp. “From respected Novak alpha to Winchester pack slut… how the mighty have fallen.” 

Gabriel’s ears flattened and he scowled at his brother as he slowly rolled to his paws. “It’s a joke, Lucifer. Not that you’d know anything about that.” 

Lucifer snorted. “Doesn’t look like a joke. Is that why they let you join the pack? Do you lift your tail for every alpha that looks at you?” He glanced at Sam, unimpressed and returned his gaze to Gabriel. “You bottom for your omega too?” 

“Shut up,” Gabriel bit out through gritted teeth. “You don’t get to talk to me like that. Not anymore. Especially not here.” 

“Hey, you’re the one asking the pack leader to knot you,” Lucifer scoffed, rolling his eyes. “If you want me to respect you, maybe don’t act like an omega whore.” 

“Hey!” Sam snapped as a vicious snarl tore from Dean’s throat. The sandy alpha planted himself beside Gabriel and bared sharp teeth at Lucifer, hackles raised in challenge. 

“I thought I’d made it pretty clear what happens if you abuse any of my pack members?” Dean snarled. “Because if you think I’m kidding about ripping you to pieces, please, allow me to prove you wrong.” 

“Gabriel isn’t _your_ pack,” Lucifer growled. “He’s a Novak.”

“He’s a Winchester,” hissed Sam fiercely. 

Gabriel nodded in agreement and made a soft sound of approval when Dean pointedly scent-marked his head and shoulders, blanketing him in the familiar Winchester aroma. 

Lucifer’s mouth turned downwards. “He’s got Novak blood in his veins – the blood of your enemies.”

 **“He’s ours!”** Dean roared; a deep, protective rumble exploding in his chest as he glared at Lucifer. Beside him, Gabriel whined softly, humbled as he instinctively wedged his head underneath Dean’s. 

Stunned by the submissive display, Lucifer fell silent as Dean nuzzled the golden wolf’s ears and continued to cover the rest of his body in his scent. 

“Ignore him,” Dean whispered as Gabriel leaned into him in encouragement. Then he spoke a little louder, “You’re twice the alpha he’ll ever be.” 

As Lucifer scowled, Gabriel allowed a small smile to touch his lips. “Thank you, Dean,” he murmured as he closed his eyes and nuzzled into Dean’s chest appreciatively. Dean wondered if anyone had ever stuck up for Gabriel against his brothers before. Unlikely, judging by his current behaviour. 

“And you,” Dean growled as he flicked his angry gaze to Lucifer. “Keep up with all the ‘omega’ insults and I’ll team up with my _omega_ brother and kick your sorry ass so hard you won’t be able to sit straight for a week.” 

Lucifer glared at Dean. “The way I see it,” he said as he prowled closer to Dean, hackles raised and teeth exposed, “you’re all bark and no bite, _Dean_.” 

Suddenly, Dean dashed forwards and clamped his teeth around the back of Lucifer’s neck. The blond alpha yelped and swiped at Dean’s back, but Dean easily side-stepped him and began to shake the larger alpha until Lucifer managed to dig his claws into his side. The younger alpha growled and slammed Lucifer into the floor and they scuffled with each other for a minute; biting and snapping and snarling until Dean finally lost his patience and pressed his claw heavily into one of the wounds Azazel’s pack had inflicted upon Lucifer the previous day. 

Lucifer whined and Dean pinned the bigger alpha beneath him with a low growl.

Raphael raced towards them but before he could get too close, Dean sunk his claw deeper into Lucifer’s side until blood began to trickle from the wound. 

“Back off,” warned Dean as Raphael came to a sharp halt.

“Get off my brother,” Raphael hissed. 

“I will when I prove my point,” said Dean dangerously as he flicked his gaze to the wolf beneath him. “You’re Winchester enemy number one, kicked out of your own family, in my territory, starving and injured… and you have the _audacity_ to threaten my pack and disrespect me?” he scoffed incredulously. “How do you think this ends for you? Do you think I’ll just shrug my shoulders and let you get away with it? Do you think I’ll just growl a little, shout at you like I would a naughty pup and let you carry on?” 

Lucifer glared up at Dean defiantly, lips sealed shut, but it was clear that he was uncomfortable having his belly exposed to Dean.

“Cas told me of the stories city folk are taught about the wild. Now, whilst you guys seem to have a rather vivid imagination for most things, you did get a few details right,” said Dean. “There is a pack hierarchy and we expect everyone to follow it. You know why?”

“Because you’re a bunch of savages who measure your power based on how many omegas you’ve knotted and how many alphas you’ve killed or dominated?” Raphael snapped, prompting Dean to shoot him a withering glare.

“To keep everyone _safe_ ,” corrected Dean. “My pack is my family; they mean _everything_ to me. It’s my job to protect them and keep them fed and make sure they’re happy. For me to do that, my pack has to respect me and my decisions. Since you clearly don’t respect me and think you can ignore my orders, I have to reprimand you in some way.”

Dean’s mouth tugged downwards. “Now, usually I’d just explain what I expect out of my pack members and say how disappointed I am, maybe yell a little if I’m angry enough… but I can tell that’s not going to work with any of you _Novaks_.” He glowered at Michael and Raphael before focusing on Lucifer once more.

“And since I’m still really pissed off about the way you’ve treated Cas, Gabe, and Samandriel these past years, I’m going to try something different…”

Lucifer frowned in confusion when Dean stepped off him. He rolled to his paws with a wary scowl, gaze glued to Dean, and lifted his lead defiantly when he had straightened himself up.

Suddenly, Dean surged forwards and bit at his withers and Lucifer tensed and swiped at him. Dean growled softly and nipped his ear instead, like a father scolding a wayward pup, and Lucifer ducked his head with a surprised frown as Dean drew backwards.

“What are you doing?” Lucifer spat as he stared at Dean with a guarded gaze, most likely wondering why Dean had stopped his attack so short.

“Reprimanding a naughty pup,” Dean supplied. “Apologise to Gabriel.”

Lucifer blinked. “…Excuse me?” 

“Apologise to Gabriel,” Dean repeated calmly. “For calling him a _whore_.”

Lucifer scoffed, “You have to be kidding me? I’m not a child, _Dean_.” 

Dean lunged for Lucifer’s rump and nipped harshly at it. Lucifer yelped and scuttled backwards with a bewildered expression as Dean sat down patiently. 

“Apologise to Gabriel,” he said again.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes and turned away, heading for Raphael. He startled when Dean raced towards him and latched onto his ear. He growled as he tugged at the ear a little, before he opened his jaws and let Lucifer escape. Lucifer stumbled backwards and fell onto his rear, eyes wide as he stared at Dean in shock. 

“Since your parents clearly never taught you any manners, I guess that job falls to me,” drawled Dean. “So, unless you want another scolding, _apologise to your brother_.” 

“I’m not a child,” Lucifer said warily. “And you’re not my father.”

“Well, you certainly act like one,” huffed Dean. “And no, I’m your _alpha_ , which means you follow my orders and if you have a problem with any of them, you _talk_ to me instead of threatening me or my pack. Apologise to Gabe.” 

“Screw you,” growled Lucifer. “You’re not Dad.” He turned towards Raphael once more, but this time he didn’t get a chance to take a step before Dean grabbed his ear and shook him. Lucifer slashed a claw across his face, leaving a bloody wound in his cheek, so Dean latched onto the scruff of his neck and dragged him across the camp, despite Lucifer’s snarled protests. 

He deposited the bigger alpha in front of Gabriel.

“You’re right – I’m not your dad,” hissed Dean. “I’m not the dad who taught you to bully your youngest brother because he doesn’t have a knot. I’m not the dad who taught you to hate your brothers because they’re alphas like you. I’m not the dad who beat you and your brothers half to death when you disagreed with him. I’m not the dad who encouraged you to kill your own nephew. I’m not the dad who treated you like shit from the day you were born to the day he disowned you!” 

Lucifer didn’t notice that he was crouching until he realised that he was looking up at Dean instead of down. With his tail tucked between his legs and his ears plastered to his skull, he stared at Dean silently, waiting for the younger alpha to lay into him. 

“Apologise,” Dean demanded, blood trickling down his cheek. “Or else I’ll drag you around this camp by your ear until you learn how to act like a respectable adult.” 

Lucifer blinked before slowly straightening and facing his frowning brother.

“…I’m sorry, Gabriel,” he said quietly. He flicked his gaze to Dean and tensed in anticipation for the clawed face he was certain to receive. 

“For…?” Dean prompted.

Lucifer hesitated. “…For calling you a whore,” he murmured. 

“Good,” said Dean and Lucifer cocked his head in surprise at the praise.

He stumbled backwards when Dean marched towards him and he growled in warning when Dean inspected the wound he had reopened on the blond alpha’s side. 

Dean rolled his eyes and gently lapped at the weeping wound and Lucifer bristled and clawed at Dean’s face once more. 

Somewhere behind Dean, Sam released a threatening snarl, but Dean shook his head and huffed at his brother reassuringly. “’S alright. He doesn’t understand.” 

“You were just trying to help,” Sam growled, angry gaze never leaving Lucifer.

“He thinks I’m gonna attack him,” sighed Dean. “Jody, can you clean him up? I’ve made a mess of that wound on his left side.” 

Jody nodded and trotted towards the pair without a trace of fear. Lucifer’s gaze flicked between her and Dean until Jody abruptly shifted into her human form to poke and prod at his wound. Lucifer averted his gaze embarrassedly, doing his best not to look at her, and when she had finished dressing him in gauze and bandages, he realised that Dean was no longer beside him. 

He glanced around the camp to find Castiel lapping at the fresh gashes on Dean’s cheek; Dean’s eyes closed and a light smile playing about his lips. 

“He was only trying to help,” murmured Jody once she had returned to her canine form. Lucifer raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Out here, we have to look out for each other,” Jody said softly. “Even when we argue and yell, we still care about one another. When we get hurt, we help each other.” She nodded to his bandages. “Dean was trying to show that he was sorry for injuring you.” 

Lucifer remained silent and Jody sighed before plodding away with her medical kit.

* * *

Dean watched Lucifer eye Jody in distrust as she left and he sighed. 

“What did you expect?” huffed Castiel quietly. “Bringing my brothers here was a terrible idea. They’ve not even been here twenty-four hours and you’re already bleeding.” 

Dean grunted softly in acknowledgement and leaned into Castiel’s tender ministrations.

“We just have to get through a few weeks. As soon as they’re healed, we can chase them off. For now though…” He turned to Castiel with an apologetic frown. “Cas, I’m sorry, but I have to treat them like pack members. I’ve invited them in; I can’t be cruel to them.” 

Castiel sighed but nodded in understanding. “Bottom of the pack, right?”

Dean’s lips quirked into a smile. “Bottom of the pack,” he agreed as he nuzzled his lover’s cheek. “Don’t worry, Angel – I won’t let them hurt you or our pups. They’ll never lay a claw on you again.” 

“I wish you wouldn’t let them hurt you,” frowned Cas as he lapped at the droplet of blood rolling down Dean’s face. He paused. “…But I will admit that watching you treat him like a naughty pup was possibly the most incredible sight I’ve ever witnessed.” 

Dean chuckled. “One of the weirdest moments of my life. But… it seemed to do the trick. He apologised to Gabe.” 

Castiel grinned. “No one has ever treated Lucifer like that. Not even our parents.” He pulled a face. “Although, our parents weren’t exactly big on the whole ‘apologise to your brother’ thing. They usually encouraged my brothers to fight and argue – said it was ‘healthy competition between alphas’.” 

Dean flicked his gaze to Lucifer. “Then maybe we can teach them some manners whilst they’re here.”

* * *

Lucifer slunk over to Raphael and Michael, tail between his legs and head lowered as he tried to hide the humiliation in his gaze. 

“Lucifer! Are you alright? Did he hurt you anywhere else? How’s your neck? Your ears?” Raphael asked hurriedly, inspecting Lucifer’s head and neck. 

Lucifer turned away. “I’m fine,” he grumbled. “Just a couple of nips.”

“He dragged you across the camp by your neck!” Raphael protested. 

“By my scruff,” Lucifer huffed. “It didn’t hurt, it just felt weird.”

“Those bites looked like they hurt,” Raphael frowned. “You yelped.” 

“Well they didn’t, alright?” Lucifer grumbled. “Not really, anyway. I was just… surprised. Thought he was going to throw me around or something.” 

Lucifer looked at everything that wasn’t his brothers and after a few moments, Michael tilted his head. “Are you… embarrassed?” 

“What?!” squawked Lucifer. “No! Of course not! Why would I be embarrassed? Alphas don’t get embarrassed!”

Michael cocked an eyebrow. 

“Shut up,” snapped Lucifer as he whirled around and stalked away from the pair.

He made his way towards a tall, leafy tree and sat in the shadows of its branches as he watched Dean and Castiel whisper between themselves. He felt like a child on thin ice with his parents, which was ridiculous because he was older than Dean and his own parents had never nipped him on the ear and forced him to apologise to his brothers for _anything_. Whenever he spoke back to his parents as a child, they either locked him in the study after a good yelling at, or they hit him – occasionally in front of his father’s clients and colleagues. 

So why hadn’t Dean hit him? They were enemies – Dean was supposed to tear him apart. He glanced at his new bandage. 

Why had Dean told Jody to clean him up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the arguing begins...


	11. Chapter 11

Dean wasn’t the only one affected by the presence of the Novaks’ head alpha. 

Since the evening of their arrival, the ex-leader within Gadreel had awakened and demanded he claim his lovers as off-limits to their new _guests_. Although confused at first, Hannah and Balthazar hadn’t once protested Gadreel’s tactile outbursts and they welcomed his newfound desire to mark them at every opportunity. Of course, once they recognised the reasons for Gadreel’s unusual behaviour, they made sure to tease him about it. 

That evening, Hannah found herself deep in conversation with Jo and Charlie as they traded stories that they had been taught of the fierce Novak pack through the generations. This left Gadreel and Balthazar alone to wonder what the omegas were whispering about. 

It also left plenty of time for Gadreel to scent-mark the smaller alpha.

“If you’re this possessive when I’m merely in the same camp as Michael Novak, I can’t wait to see what you’re like when Dean finishes what he started and marks us both,” Balthazar drawled. “We’re the only two he hasn’t marked yet – it’s bound to happen at some point.” 

A soft growl resonated within Gadreel’s chest. “As much as I care for Dean, he’d better not rub himself all over you. I might not be able to restrain myself a second time,” he murmured as he thought back to how close he had been to tackling Dean when he had marked Hannah. He wouldn’t have hurt Dean, but he definitely had half a mind to chase him off – it was hard to let go of lead alpha instincts, particularly when it came to his lovers. 

Balthazar chuckled and easily rolled onto his back. He smiled when Gadreel made a soft sound of delight and proceeded to rub his head and cheek over the smaller alpha’s chest and stomach. 

“Hmm… then maybe I should walk over to Dean right now and beg to be marked. Just to see what happens,” grinned Balthazar. 

Another growl burst from Gadreel’s chest as he straddled the smaller alpha. “I’ll tell you what will happen,” he murmured as he nipped at Balthazar’s jaw. “I’ll drag you into our shelter and knot you until sunrise and then the only scent you’ll carry is mine.” 

Balthazar hummed in interest. “I’ll definitely have to find Dean now.”

Gadreel nuzzled his lover’s throat. “I don’t want to knot you out in the open in front of the entire pack, but if you keep teasing me, I’m afraid I might have no other choice.” 

“Jealous, aren’t we?” Balthazar purred.

Gadreel smirked and nipped his throat. “Is it my fault that I don’t like other people’s scents on my gorgeous alpha?” 

Balthazar whined softly in approval as Gadreel licked a slow, erotic stipe up his throat. “We should definitely take this inside,” whispered Balthazar. “I’m three seconds away from deep-throating your knot.” 

Gadreel blinked before a brilliant grin lit up his face. “You have a kink,” he teased.

“Yes, yes, we all know that I have a kink for you being a possessive bastard,” dismissed Balthazar. “Now, can we please go somewhere a little more private where you can have your filthy way with me? I need you, _mon amour_.” 

Gaze softening, Gadreel leaned down to kiss his lover’s muzzle, but paused when there was a sound of disgust from behind him.

Accustomed to the pack teasing him for his random demonstrations of PDA, Gadreel rolled his eyes and made to tell the onlooker to avert their gaze if they didn’t want to be traumatised. However, he hesitated when he realised that it was Michael who was eying him in disgust. Beneath him, Balthazar tensed – still nervous when it came to alphas that he didn’t know – and Gadreel shifted slightly so he could roll to his paws. 

“Can I help you?” Gadreel asked carefully as Balthazar pressed into his side in search of comfort, eyes glued to Michael. 

“Are you lovers?” Michael asked bluntly.

“Yes,” said Gadreel with a frown. “Is that a problem?” 

Michael raised his eyebrows. “You’re both alphas.”

“We are,” agreed Gadreel. “Does that bother you?” 

Scrunching his nose, Michael scowled. “You must know how wrong that is? Alphas knotting alphas… it’s perverted.” He paused and cocked his head. “Wait, is it a dominance thing? Something wild folk do to prove their authority over one another?” 

“It most certainly isn’t,” Gadreel scowled. “Balthazar and I have been together for over two years now.”

Michael pursed his lips. “How repulsive.” 

“Why am I not surprised that you’re a raging homophobe?” Balthazar bit out, gathering enough courage to raise his head, but not quite enough to leave Gadreel’s side. 

Michael looked taken aback as he blinked at Balthazar. “I’m only stating a fact. It’s wrong for two alphas to… partake in intercourse with one another. Everyone knows that.” 

“That doesn’t appear to be the case here. Must be a _civilised folk_ thing,” Gadreel drawled sarcastically.

Michael’s lips drew into a thin line. “Two alphas don’t work together anyway – particularly two _male_ alphas. How can they create a child? They don’t have the correct parts. What happens when you go into rut? Two alphas in rut at the same time are likely to kill each other.” 

“If it bothers you so much, don’t look,” said Balthazar with a narrowed gaze.

“That’s rather difficult when you insist on pawing at each other in the middle of the camp,” scoffed Michael. “You ought to feel ashamed – you do realise there are pups present? How do you think being exposed to your _choices_ will affect them?” 

Balthazar bristled. “I think it’ll teach them what a loving relationship is supposed to look like. How do you suppose your bigotry will affect them?” 

Michael growled softly and Balthazar’s confidence drained out of him as he flinched and pressed into Gadreel’s side once more. Proud of his lover for standing up for himself, Gadreel nuzzled Balthazar’s ear reassuringly before growling loud and pointedly at the deplorable white alpha. A few nearby wolves swivelled their heads. 

“Don’t threaten him,” Gadreel warned. “The last alpha that did that became carrion for the crows.” He glanced at Michael’s broken left hindlimb and bandaged ribs. “Compared to him, you’d be nothing more than a warm-up.” 

Michael grit his teeth. “I somehow highly doubt that. I’m more worried about you trying to kiss me than kill me.”

Gadreel’s eyes flashed with anger and he lurched forwards to snarl at the older alpha, only to pause at Hannah’s careful query. 

“Is everything alright over here?”

“Everything’s fine,” muttered Balthazar. “Michael has some questionable views about two alphas in a relationship. We were just discussing them.” 

Immediately, Hannah scowled and glared at Michael. “I see. I hope you’re educating him.”

“Gadreel was just about to give him a practical lesson,” said Balthazar tightly, flinching when Michael growled at him. Gadreel quickly growled back and Michael eased away slightly. 

“It’s not right,” Michael insisted.

“Is that what Daddy told you?” Hannah sneered. 

“Don’t tell me you support this?” Michael asked, looking genuinely surprised as he stared at Hannah. “Surely you know how wrong it is?” 

“Are you really asking if I support my mate and my boyfriend pursuing a relationship together?” Hannah asked.

Michael’s eyes blew wide as he flicked his gaze between the three of them. “…Mate and boyfriend…? Wait, so the three of you are…? And two of you are mated whilst the other…?” Michael took a step backwards, looking equal parts horrified and nauseous. “So… you’re a cheater,” he said as he frowned at Hannah before flicking his gaze to Balthazar and Gadreel, “and one of you two isn’t alpha enough to satisfy your mate, whilst the other is happy to be used for his knot and discarded afterwards? That… that’s the most disturbing thing I’ve ever heard. What is wrong with you all?” 

Hannah gaped at Michael as Balthazar raised his hackles.

“Keep your accusations to yourself,” Gadreel bit out. “We have nothing to explain to a homophobic bigot like you. If you think we’re so disgusting, _turn away_.” 

Michael tutted and shook his head. “Freaks,” he muttered as he began to limp away. He paused as he looked over his shoulder. “Everyone here is thinking it, by the way. They just haven’t said anything yet.” 

“We’re all thinking what, Michael?”

Michael startled and whirled around to face Dean, who stared at the older alpha as though he had heard every word of the last few minutes and was ready to break another of Michael’s legs. A little way behind him stood Castiel; a dangerous look in his gaze. 

Michael’s mouth drew into a thin line as he gestured to the trio behind him. “I’m surprised at you; letting them demonstrate their perverted fantasies in front of your pack. Surely, you have something to say to them?” 

Dean cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, I do.” He smiled at the trio. “Ignore this asswipe. I reckon he’s jealous because he hasn’t seen any action since high school – maybe not even then. You guys just keep doing what you’re doing.” 

Michael blinked and glowered at Dean. “I’ve seen plenty of ‘action’.”

“Your own fist doesn’t count,” snorted Dean before straightening. “Leave Gadreel, Hannah, and Balthazar alone. They’re not interested in your opinions.” 

“It’s wrong,” Michael insisted. “How can you expose the pups in your pack to such filth?”

“How can I expose the pups to a loving and healthy relationship? Quite easily, really,” scoffed Dean. “Why are you so against it? They’re not bothering you.” 

Michael shook his head. “Because… because it’s _wrong._ Everything about two alphas and an omega in a relationship is _wrong_.” 

Dean tilted his head. “…Why?”

Michael looked stunned. “Because relationships are supposed to be between _two_ people. And two alphas can’t be in a relationship.” 

“…But why not?” Dean asked again.

Michael frowned. “…Because they’re not supposed to. Because it doesn’t work. Two male alphas can’t make a child together and only one of them will be able to impregnate the omega at any one time.” 

“Yeah, but… why does a relationship have to be defined by whether the people in it can make a pup?” Dean asked. “Why can’t it just be about loving the person you’re with?” He glanced at the three wolves behind Michael. “Or the _people_ you’re with?” 

Michael fell quiet. After a minute of silence, he finally piped up, “…What’s the point of a relationship if you don’t plan on having a child? Who will you pass your wisdom and knowledge onto? Do you let your family name die with you?” 

Dean’s brows furrowed. “Is that all a partner means to you? An incubator to provide an heir for you? Is a pup just a way to keep your surname going?” 

Michael’s ears drooped. “I… I don’t understand. Why else would you mate Castiel unless you wanted a child to pass your pack onto?” 

“Dude,” Dean protested. “I mated Cas because I _love_ him, not because I want to start making heirs.”

Once again, Michael remained silent; a small frown creasing his features. He shook his head slowly. “That doesn’t…” 

“Of course it makes sense!” Castiel finally snapped, startling everyone. He stalked towards Michael with a sharp glare. “Just because Mother and Father tell you something is wrong, it doesn’t mean that it actually is! In fact, most of what our parents told us is complete crap! They never loved each other – their whole marriage was a farce. They didn’t even love us! The only reason they’re together is so they could pass the Novak name down another generation.” He eyed Michael in distaste. 

“If I were you, I wouldn’t state my opinions on things that I don’t understand. In case you haven’t yet noticed, no one here cares what you have to say.” 

Michael stared at his brother with a slack jaw and round eyes. Castiel hadn’t spoken to him like that since he was twelve and Michael had battered him for it. He hadn’t realised his little brother was capable of speaking like that to alphas anymore – he had assumed that sort of defiance had been beaten out of him over the years. 

Dean blinked at his mate in surprise before clearing his throat. “Maybe… maybe think before you speak, yeah?” he said to Michael. “Wild folk aren’t as, ah… _reserved_ about who can love who and all that.” 

“For future reference, perhaps you shouldn’t speak at all,” muttered Castiel.

Michael stared at Castiel for a long moment before flicking his gaze to Dean. “So… in the wild, it’s okay for someone to have more than one romantic interest?” 

Dean nodded and Michael frowned at his paws thoughtfully. “And no one will chase them out of the pack? Or disown them? Or… abuse them for it?” 

“I think you guys can answer that,” Dean said as he glanced at Gadreel, Balthazar, and Hannah. “Did we chase you out of the pack when we found out that you were together? Anyone laugh at you or insult you?” 

“Nope,” Hannah smiled. “No one batted an eyelid.”

“Well,” drawled Balthazar, “a few of you looked rather shocked when you realised that I wasn’t dead. And there was that whole fight with Gadreel when I thought he was attacking my mate, and then again when I got very jealous and thought Gadreel was trying to steal Hannah from me…” 

Hannah nudged Balthazar as a ghost of a smile played about Gadreel’s lips.

Michael creased his brow. “So… you are jealous of one another?” he said as he glanced between Balthazar and Gadreel. “Your relationship doesn’t work.” 

“We _were_ jealous of one another when the relationship started,” corrected Balthazar. “But that was before I really got to know Gadreel. And now, well…” He glanced at Gadreel coyly. “Let’s just say we’ve had _a lot_ of time to get to know one another.” 

Gadreel dropped his gaze shyly and Michael glanced between the three. His brows drew downwards. “It’s still adultery. Two of you are mated and you’re both having intercourse with someone who isn’t your mate. It’s wrong.” 

Gadreel shifted uncomfortably and Balthazar nuzzled his cheek as Hannah lifted her chin. “He’s not our mate _yet_ ,” she corrected. 

“You can’t have more than one mate,” scoffed Michael. “It’s illegal.”

“Illegal?” Hannah scoffed, as though it was the most childish claim she had ever heard. “Maybe it’s different where you come from but out here, as long as we’re all consenting adults, we can have as many mates as we please. It’s just a bite, after all.” 

Michael wrinkled his nose. “A bite? How primitive. In civilisation, we make a promise by exchanging rings with _one_ person of our choosing. Marriage or _mating,_ as you so crudely call it, lasts for a lifetime in our culture. You can’t just marry someone else when you get bored of your current partner.” 

“Balthazar and I have known each other since we were pups,” Hannah said, unimpressed. “We’ve been through things you can’t imagine – things I don’t need to explain to you. We’re hardly _bored_ of one another. Gadreel was just… he helped both of us when we needed it most and I suppose, somewhere along the way, we both realised that we couldn’t be without him.” 

“Even if it did take one of us a lot longer than the other to work that out,” muttered Balthazar under his breath.

“Get off your high horse, Michael,” snorted Castiel abruptly. “Forty-five percent of civilised marriages in the USA end in divorce and the average length of a marriage is twelve years. I’d hardly call that ‘a lifetime’.” He rolled his eyes. “Gabriel is divorced and Raphael’s wife wants to kill him. And that’s just our own brothers.” 

Michael shifted his weight with an unhappy scowl. “Raphael’s divorced,” he mumbled and Castiel laughed, delight sparkling in his gaze. 

“Good for her.”

He received a withering glare for the comment, which he returned with a sarcastic smile. 

“Alright, alright,” interrupted Dean before his mate could start a fight with his older brother. “Leave Gadreel, Balthazar, and Hannah alone,” he said, directing a pointed look at Michael. “Their business is none of yours – and I don’t appreciate prejudice in my camp, got it?” 

“You might as well be talking to a brick wall,” muttered Castiel under his breath, “since he’ll never listen.”

Michael bristled. “How dare you speak to me like that!” 

“I wasn’t speaking _to_ you,” Castiel snapped, teeth bared and a growl bubbling low in his ribcage. “I was speaking _about_ you, brother.” 

“ _Enough,_ ” Dean warned, shooting his mate an exasperated glance. “Michael, stop bothering my pack members. You three,” he said as he turned his attention to Gadreel, Balthazar, and Hannah, “carry on with… whatever it was you were doing.” He whirled to face Castiel and dropped his voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe you should take some time away from your brothers? Clear your head a little?” 

Castiel narrowed a glare at Dean before stalking away with a low tail and a dark expression.

Dean closed his eyes. These were going to be a long few weeks.

* * *

The dawn light cast a pinkish hue over the gently swaying grasses. Adam mourned the loss of unconsciousness and stretched tiredly in the warm air as four insistent bodies butted into his with all the gentleness of a woodpecker fixated on a particular patch of bark. 

“Time for our hunting lesson,” chirped Claire.

“Yeah, get up, lazy bones. Those rabbits won’t wait around,” Alex chipped in. 

With a long-suffering sigh and a spine-popping stretch, Adam stumbled to his paws and cast his longing gaze to the rest of the peacefully snoozing pack. “Are you sure your lesson isn’t with Crowley and Meg today?” 

“They’re sure,” grumbled a voice to his left – a rich, slightly accented voice that belonged to none other than Crowley. “We puppysat yesterday. Your turn.” 

Adam rolled his eyes and shuffled his way to the outskirts of the camp with the pups in tow. He paused when he felt another set of eyes on him and he twisted around to find Jack trailing behind him. 

“…Can I come, Beta?” Jack asked with a pathetically hopeful expression.

“It’s just a hunting lesson. We won’t even bring anything back,” Adam said, bemused. 

Jack shrugged. “Can I come anyway?”

“…I suppose,” said Adam slowly, wondering whether he was making a terrible mistake that he would quickly come to regret. 

Tail wagging with excitement, Jack bounded over and ducked his head a little. “Thank you, Beta.”

“You don’t have to-” Adam cut himself off and shook his head. What was the point in correcting the title? It wasn’t as though the strange omega would drop it any time soon. 

They trekked through the forest to the large burrow that Adam had taken his little class to previously. Kits bouncing around her joyously amidst the tall grasses, a large, black and grey doe rabbit snapped her sharp gaze upwards at the arrival of the wolves. For a moment it looked as though she would bolt, particularly when Jack began to crouch low to the ground, but Samandriel offered her a sincere smile and she settled again with a nod in his direction. 

“Good morning, Doe Gwynygen,” Samandriel greeted as he trotted over and respectfully lay with his chin touching the ground. 

Adam quirked his lips in amusement as he sat down and watched five black and grey kits bound over to Samandriel, clicking and flicking their tails excitedly. Beside him, Jack gazed on in open-mouthed bewilderment. 

“Good morning, Pup Samandriel,” said Gwynygen politely. “Are you here for another hunting lesson?”

“Yep,” grinned Samandriel as he rolled onto his side and allowed the kits to crawl over him. “I’ve brought a new friend – I hope you and your Burrow don’t mind. His name is Jack.” 

Gwynygen levelled Jack with a wary gaze, ears alert and pointing forwards. “As long as he refrains from extinguishing the lives of any of my Burrow.” 

“Oh, don’t worry, Doe Gwynygen. We’d never hurt any of your Burrow. Promise,” Samandriel smiled as a particularly confident kit perched on his muzzle. 

Gwynygen hesitated as she eyed Jack once more. “That is most reassuring to hear, Pup Samandriel. Perhaps you could excuse me whilst I inform my Burrow of your arrival? My Burrow fears predators, but they will make an exception for you providing they are aware of your presence.” 

“Of course,” grinned Samandriel as the giggling kits returned to their mother. “We’ll wait here.”

With her kits by her paws, Gwynygen hopped into the grasses as Samandriel rolled upright. 

“…Do all Shifters warn their prey before hunting them?” Jack asked with wide eyes.

“No,” snorted Adam. “No, only pups called _Samandriel_ do that.” 

“He’s from the city,” explained Ben. “Where people keep rabbits and other prey as pets without eating them. Apparently, they make friends with them.” 

Jack frowned at Samandriel. “Then what did you eat in the city?”

Samandriel shuffled his paws awkwardly. “Well, you still eat things like cows and sheep and rabbits and deer but sometimes we keep them as pets too.” 

“How did you decide which ones to eat and which to keep?” Jack asked curiously.

“I don’t really know,” admitted Samandriel. “I just ate the ones that showed up in the supermarket and played with the ones that were… y’know… still alive.” 

Jack tilted his head. “Supermarket?”

“It’s a really big building full of food – like fruit and vegetables and meat and cakes.” 

“…Cakes?”

“Cakes are awesome,” grinned Samandriel. “They’re so sweet and there’s a load of different flavours. But they’re really bad for you. Dad says they make your teeth fall out if you have too many.” 

“That sounds horrifying,” said Jack, ears flat. “How do they do that?”

Samandriel shrugged. “Don’t know. Dad says a lot of things that I don’t really pay attention to.” 

Adam bit back a laugh as the pups nodded in solemn understanding. “Jody’s like that,” agreed Alex. “She worries about _everything_.” 

That was the moment that Gwynygen chose to pop her head out of the grasses. “Pup Samandriel,” she announced. “We’re ready for you.” 

Samandriel wagged his tail at her. “Thank you, Doe Gwynygen. I promise we won’t hurt anyone.”

“Good,” she nodded before disappearing once more. 

“Alright, guys,” Adam began. “Same as usual; boys, your job is to each scent out a rabbit. I don’t expect you to catch one. Girls, you’ve had more practice so I expect a little more from you. Try not to pin kits and I don’t want anyone injured, okay?” 

The four pups nodded before darting away, leaving Jack and Adam to linger alone by the edges of the burrow grounds. Adam lowered himself to the grass. 

“You want to kill those three strangers that joined the pack the other day.”

Adam startled at the abrupt statement. He flicked his gaze up to the omega. “How’d you figure that?” 

Jack sat gracefully and cocked an ear at Adam. “I can smell it on you. On all of you. I don’t understand; if you loathe them so much, why invite them into the pack?” 

Adam sighed. “It’s… complicated.”

“Alpha could easily kill them. They’re all wounded, particularly the white one,” Jack said with furrowed brows. 

It took a moment for Adam to work out which alpha Jack was referring to. “Dean probably would kill them if it wasn’t for Gabriel. They’re Gabe’s brothers and although they haven’t been particularly nice to him, he feels a kind of… obligation to not let them die out here. Mostly because he grew up with them.” 

“Gabriel is the gold one,” Jack said slowly, “with the floppy ear?”

Adam nodded. “That’s him.” 

Jack’s eyebrows drew further downwards as though he was contemplating something, then he nodded cautiously. “And Castiel – the black and tan one – is also his brother?” 

Once again, Adam nodded in agreement.

“But Castiel doesn’t want the three strangers here. I can smell his hatred of them whenever they venture too close to him. What did they do to make him despise them so much?” Jack asked. 

“They tried to kill his pup,” Adam said simply.

“The Rabbit Whisperer,” Jack said sombrely, making Adam pause. 

“…Samandriel,” he corrected, stomping down on his amusement. “Or Alfie, if you ask Gabe.” He watched Jack’s brow fold downwards in puzzlement and quickly ploughed on. “Cas is an unmated omega, whereas his brothers are all alphas. They’re all part of this huge business in the city and they just so happen to be the Winchester pack’s biggest rivals and have been for a few centuries. They had wars and stuff before the Novak pack – Gabe and Cas’ pack – fled to the city. Anyway, the Novaks didn’t like the idea of Cas getting pregnant by an alpha he only spent one night with and they called him a disgrace to the family and tried to kill his pup. Gabe gave him an opportunity to escape and eventually, Cas and Samandriel ended up here, with Gabe following a few months later.” 

A disturbed expression plastered itself across Jack’s face and Adam mused over his explanation and what could have horrified the omega. Then again, the older three Novaks did tend to have that effect on people… 

“Castiel is male,” Jack stated firmly.

Nonplussed, Adam tilted his head. “…Yeah?” 

Jack’s eyes grew rounder. “How could he get _pregnant_?”

Adam hesitated. “…Because he’s an omega?” 

Jack sat upright, looking even more startled. “You said I was an Omega though. I can’t get pregnant. Males can’t get pregnant.” 

Adam bit his lip thoughtfully. “Jack… I hate to break it to you, but you can definitely get pregnant. You’re an omega. All omegas can get pregnant.” 

Shaking his head violently, Jack leaped to his paws. “No, I’m male. I do know how intercourse works; my old pack told me all about it. Males mate females and females have the pups. That’s how the animal kingdom works.” 

Adam raised an eyebrow. “That’s how _most_ of the animal kingdom works. Shifters are different. We have secondary genders; alphas have knots and omegas have uteruses. That’s on top of whatever you have as a male or female. Betas don’t have any extras.” 

“No,” Jack said slowly, shaking his head as though he wasn’t entirely sure of his own words anymore. “No, that’s not right. That’s not what Alphas Dira and Kion said…” 

“Look,” huffed Adam. “You can be a female alpha and have both a uterus and a knot. You can be a male alpha and have a knot. You can be a male beta and just have a penis without a knot. _And_ you can be a male omega with both a uterus and a knotless penis. It’s just how shifters work, got it?” 

Jack didn’t look as though he understood any of it. He stared at Adam with eyes as wide as tennis balls. “But then that would mean…” He trailed off with a troubled expression and Adam blew out a long breath. 

“If you don’t get it just… ask Dean or Sam. Maybe they can explain it better.”

Mouth drawing downwards, Jack nodded slowly with a creased brow before glancing at his own paws in deep thought. 

A triumphant howl caught their attention and Adam rose to his feet and slunk into the tall grasses to assess Claire’s catch, leaving Jack to trail after him in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isn't Samandriel adorable? ;)


	12. Chapter 12

“You’re coiled tighter than a boa constrictor, Cas. Tense up any more and you’ll pop a blood vessel.” 

“I hate that they’re here,” growled Castiel as Dean sat beside him, on the outskirts of the camp and out of earshot from the rest of the pack. 

Dean blew out a long breath. “I know it sucks, but Gabe asked me to show them mercy.”

“They’re upsetting people. They haven’t even been here a week and they’ve attacked you, threatened Gabriel, and insulted Gadreel, Balthazar, and Hannah. They need to _leave_ ,” Castiel bit out. 

Dean eyed his lover in surprise; he had never seen his mate so wound up. Castiel was usually so patient and calm and he rarely butted heads with anyone, yet the arrival of his older brothers had provoked the appearance of a new side of the omega. Dean wasn’t entirely certain that he liked this uncharacteristically confrontational and hostile version of his mate – he did understand it though. 

“They haven’t said anything to you, have they?” Dean asked carefully.

Castiel’s mouth drew into a thin line as he shook his head. “Doesn’t mean they won’t.” He narrowed his eyes. “I won’t lie down and roll over for them next time though. This isn’t civilisation and they don’t have Father to back them up anymore. I refuse to hide from them any longer.” 

Dean licked his lips nervously; that didn’t sound too reassuring.

“Cas… I’m all for you standing up for yourself, but don’t set out to start a fight. I get that you hate them for the way they’ve treated you and Samandriel, but there’s no need to get yourself beaten up. Don’t stoop to their level.” 

“Samandriel isn’t safe as long as they’re around,” Castiel said in exasperation. “I have to make them understand that I won’t allow them to hurt him. If they take a single step towards him, I’m not averse to scrapping with them.” 

“Samandriel is safe,” Dean promised as he leaned into his mate’s side with a worried frown. “The pack isn’t going to let anything happen to him. Sam and I won’t let anything happen to him. Heck, Adam will probably tear a limb off if they threaten any of the pups – you know he’d do anything for those kids.” 

A memory of an painful snakebite flashed across Dean’s mind as Castiel looked away with a soft sigh.

“I trust you and the pack, Dean. It’s my brothers I don’t trust. I know they’re injured and they don’t look like much of a threat right now, but I can’t underestimate my brothers. I know how unpredictable they can be. I remember the beatings and the yelling… the way they used to tear into each other. I remember the looks on their faces the night I fled the city; the bloodlust and determination in their eyes. If anything happens to Samandriel, I’ll never forgive myself.” 

Dean’s gaze softened and he slung a protective paw over his mate and nuzzled his head. “Cas, I swear nothing will happen to our pup. If they threaten him, I’ll kill all of them. They won’t have time to make it out of the camp.” 

Cas sunk to the ground with a hum of approval and Dean lay on top of him possessively as he began to mark the omega with his scent.

“I love that you call him _our_ pup,” Castiel confessed after a few moments.

Dean rumbled in contentment and nosed at the mating bite on Cas’ neck. “Well, he is _our_ pup, isn’t he?” 

Castiel smiled and nodded, baring his throat for Dean to nip. “You’re a wonderful father, Dean. I’m so grateful that he has you; that _we_ have you. You’re perfect.” 

Chest swelling with pride, Dean smirked and nipped his lover’s jaw. “Keep sweet-talking me like that and I might think you have a thing for me…” 

With a chuckle, Cas released a sultry purr and arousal reared its head in Dean’s gut. He nipped a little harder at Cas’ throat and the omega bared it eagerly for him, enticing Dean to mark him. 

Dean flicked his gaze around the camp and noted that no one appeared to be watching them since they were at the edge of the grounds. He hummed in appreciation and straddled his lover’s back as he continued to nip erotically at his neck and jaw. 

“Maybe I should drag you into the trees behind us and we could shift… maybe do a little something-something while nobody’s paying attention…” Dean murmured beside his mate’s ear. 

“Oh? What did you have in mind?” Cas teased as he closed his eyes and curled his tail over suggestively.

Dean slipped a paw beneath his lover and subtly rocked their bodies together. “Bit of rough and tumble,” Dean mumbled as he kissed Cas’ jaw. “I could pin you to a tree and knot you senseless.” 

“How romantic,” Cas drawled, but the way he arched into Dean betrayed his interest.

“Or…” growled Dean as he nipped a line down Cas’ neck, “we could wrestle for it – winner tops. You need an outlet for all that tension and I’m happy to oblige.” 

Cas arched an interested eyebrow. “Am I hearing this correctly? The strong and powerful alpha wants his omega buried deep inside him?” 

Dean chuckled sinfully and rumbled beside his mate’s ear as he held Cas a little tighter. “Only if his omega can prove he’s worthy of the honour. Only if he can beat his alpha in a scuffle. If not… he has to present his gorgeous ass to his alpha for punishment.” 

Castiel growled quietly at the challenge, a smirk crawling over his face. “I do have a lot of tension to work out. Watching you writhe and moan beneath me will definitely help.” 

“Cocky,” breathed Dean. “I should teach you a lesson.” He bit at Cas’ mating mark and the omega muffled a groan in fear of drawing attention to them both. 

“You’re playing dirty,” panted Cas as Dean rutted against him.

“I want to win,” whispered Dean as he bit Cas’ mark again. The bite throbbed deliciously and Cas threw his head back as a soft groan fell from his lips. Dean eyed his throat predatorily. 

“I’m gonna make every inch of you mine, Angel. I’m gonna beat you in our little contest and then I’m gonna knot you rough and hard as I milk your dick and finger your ass until slick flows down your thighs and you beg to be allowed to come.” 

Cas inhaled sharply, pupils dilating with unbridled lust.

“And then, I’m gonna knot you,” breathed Dean. “I’m gonna pull your hair and knot your ass and play with your nipples and make you finger yourself until you cause a sticky mess. And you’re gonna tell me exactly who you belong to as I come in your hole and claim you as mine.” 

Castiel made a soft sound of want before shaking his head and purring, “I’m afraid you’ve got that wrong, Dean. I’ll be winning our game and I’ll be the one ramming my dick into your ass as I fondle your balls and watch you jerk yourself off.” 

He angled his mouth beside Dean’s ear as the alpha draped himself over him with a rumble of approval.

“And then for round two,” Cas whispered, “I’m going to shove my cock down your throat and watch you finger yourself to completion.” He nipped Dean’s jaw. “And you _will_ swallow every last drop of me.” 

Dean’s breath shook as he let out a quiet curse. He gripped his mate tighter. “Get behind those trees right now.”

“Make me, _alpha_ ,” hissed Cas as he arched filthily against his mate. 

“Alpha, I have a question about male Omegas.”

Castiel and Dean had never ripped themselves away from each other so quickly. They cast their wide gazes to Jack as they fought to catch their breath and willed their rather prominent erections to wilt. They sat down in unison and made a poor effort of hiding their shame. 

“Jack,” Dean squeaked. “How long were you standing there?”

Jack tilted his head. “Not long. Why?” 

“No reason,” mumbled Dean, averting his gaze as fresh embarrassment flushed the skin below his fur. 

“Oh. Well, I have a question about the biology of male Omega Shifters,” Jack smiled. 

“So you said,” managed Dean as he flicked his gaze behind Jack to Adam, whom was staring intensely at his own paws as though he had never seen them before. Behind him, Samandriel and Ben stared at the sky in abject horror. 

With a grimace, Dean returned his gaze to Jack and the omega smiled at him patiently.

“Shoot,” Dean sighed. 

Jack frowned. “Shoot what?”

“Your question,” huffed Dean. “What’s your question?” 

Jack’s tail swished behind him. “Right. Can male Omega Shifters get pregnant?”

Dean’s eyes widened and he flicked an alarmed gaze to Adam, who shook his head rapidly and glared at his older brother. 

“Uh… yeah, they can,” replied Dean slowly. “Should I… Should I be concerned?”

“Concerned about what?” 

Dean subtly flicked his gaze to Adam once more and the young beta scowled at him.

“Uh… nothing,” mumbled Dean as he looked away. 

Jack tilted his head and eyed Cas thoughtfully for a moment before returning his attention to Dean. “Alpha, my old pack informed me that I had an anatomical defect, but now I’m not so sure. Could I possibly have your opinion?” 

Dean blinked in surprise. “You can, but Jody’s better at anatomy and stuff. What’s your problem?”

Jack hesitated before whirling around and abruptly shoving his buttocks in Dean’s face. Then he curled his tail out of the way to reveal many anatomical features that Dean hadn’t wanted to see. 

“Can you see the defect?” Jack asked as Dean snapped his gaze to the clouds drifting above him.

Taking a calming breath, Dean glanced briefly at Jack’s rear before throwing his gaze to the sky once more, uncaring if the sun burned his retinas. Beside him, Castiel looked at anything that wasn’t him or Jack. 

“Nope. Can’t see any defect,” Dean stuttered. “None. Nada. Bupkis.”

“Are you sure?” Jack frowned. “The slit beneath my anus – that isn’t normal, is it?” 

_A three-legged elephant_ , thought Dean as he began to see shapes in the clouds. “Yep. Perfectly normal. A-okay.”

Still, Jack didn’t move. “…What is it though? What does it do?” 

Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably as Adam attempted to escape. Having already learned this particular section of biology, Ben and Samandriel sprinted away in mortification. Castiel concentrated on an interesting twig. 

“Well,” said Dean quietly, “when an alpha and omega like each other very much-”

Finally, Jack turned around with a light frown. “It’s a vagina, isn’t it?” 

Dean blinked and lowered his gaze to the young omega. “…Yeah.”

“I don’t understand,” Jack muttered with a confused shake of his head. “I thought only females could have vaginas? My old pack told me that I had a fault, but you’re telling me that all Omegas can get pregnant, regardless of gender. That means that Shifter Omegas are not the same as timber wolf Omegas; Shifters have different anatomies based on their title of Alpha, Beta, and Omega. And that means…” His brows pinched even further downwards before shooting upwards as the epiphany struck. 

“They’re not titles. You called them genders. Shifters aren’t only male and female, are they?”

Dean opened his mouth to confirm Jack’s hypothesis, but the omega ploughed on before he could utter a single word. “Which means that when you say I’m an Omega…” 

“I mean _omega_ with a lowercase ‘o’,” said Dean with a nod of agreement.

Jack’s brows pinched together. “What?” 

Dean offered him a grin. “Ah… I said I’m talking about your gender when I call you an omega. It’s not a rank – just means you have testicles _and_ a uterus.” 

The pieces of the puzzle finally clicked together in Jack’s brain and he fell onto his rump with an expression that screamed fascination. 

When the omega opened his mouth, Dean rushed out his next sentence. “Adam will tell you all about it.”

Adam shot him a look that promised murder. Dean ignored it. 

Jack nodded slowly and turned to the beta with an eager smile and a flicking tail.

Dean crept away as silently as he could whilst Adam glared daggers into his back.

* * *

Samandriel tore across the camp with Ben hot on his heels. Their game was a tale of war and vengeance; of Novaks versus Winchesters. The adults would have probably considered it distasteful had they been paying attention but since no one was, Ben and Samandriel were free to craft their battleground and weave their complicated story. 

So far, the evil Samandriel Novak had killed Ben Winchester’s beautiful mate and all of his pups and had fled the scene before the Winchester pack could take note. However, Ben Winchester – leader of the pack – had a keen sense of smell and he knew the scent of his most-hated enemy like the back of his own paw. Being the bravest and strongest omega in all of the wild, Ben Winchester set out to hunt his mate’s killer all by himself. He had to fight Samandriel Novak and beat him before the cruel city alpha made it to civilisation and escaped forever. 

Ben quickly sighted his enemy and knew he had to cut him off before he reached the foaming river rapids _(the stream on the opposite side of the camp)_. He had to be speedy if he wanted to kill his enemy _(pin him on his back)_. 

He pushed himself faster and began closing in on the villainous alpha and Samandriel twisted his neck to poke his tongue out at Ben as they dodged fallen trees _(adults)_ and leaped over enormous boulders _(pebbles)._ They skidded around crumbling mountains _(shelters)_ and scrambled under a particularly aggressive moose _(a very confused Sam)_ and they growled and howled at one another until Ben finally threw himself at the alpha. 

They crashed into the ground and commenced their fight to the death – giggling as they did so – and they snarled and chewed each other’s paws as they rolled around the floor. They batted at one another’s noses and chewed easily-accessible ears until Samandriel stumbled to his paws with a triumphant grin and left his enemy coated in blood _(grass stains)_. 

Ben staggered to his paws with a wounded whine as Samandriel bounded into his second escape scene, glancing behind him to goad his enemy into another chase.

 _“Samandriel!”_ Ben called suddenly, in very real alarm.

Samandriel legs didn’t stop even as his brows furrowed in puzzlement. He slammed into someone so hard that he tumbled onto his rump with a dazed expression. The forest began to spin around him. 

There was a pained yelp and his gaze quickly pulled into focus when a set of gaping jaws sailed towards him at a horrifying speed. A whimper falling from his throat, he braced himself for the vicious bite. 

A terrifying snarl sounded ahead of him, followed by a second pained yelp. Samandriel cracked a cautious eye open and quickly scrambled backwards as Michael and Sam ripped into one another. 

He pressed himself into Ben’s side with a soft whine and the little omega immediately leaned into him with a protective growl of his own. 

In front of them, Sam clamped his jaws around Michael’s scruff and shook him violently before dragging him a few feet across the floor. Michael whimpered as his broken leg caught against a particularly well-rooted stone and he fell limp when Sam finally released him. 

“Don’t you _ever_ attack our pups!” Sam snarled as the rest of the pack drew to attention.

“It was a reflex!” Michael snapped, gesturing to his bandaged hindlimb now caked in mud and leaf litter. “He ran into my leg!” 

Sam jerked forward; hackles raised. “I don’t care if he _throws_ himself onto your leg – you try to bite him again; I’ll claw your eyes out!” 

Michael narrowed his gaze, leg throbbing. “I didn’t know it was Samandriel. It was a reflex response,” he said lowly.

Sam growled out a warning. “It isn’t a normal reflex to bite a pup. Keep your teeth away from my nephew.”

Michael’s ears flattened as Sam bared his teeth and he lay still in wary obedience. He had never fought an omega and lost before. Humiliation graced his features as Sam stalked away and he growled softly at Raphael when his younger brother padded over to check on him. Raphael cautiously backed away. 

Sam slunk over to Samandriel and Ben as he kept a watchful eye on Michael and he placed himself in front of the pups, obscuring them from view of the wounded white alpha. 

“Are you alright, Samandriel?” Sam asked as he assessed the pup for any injuries.

Samandriel nodded and pressed his head against Sam’s chest gratefully. “Thanks, uncle Sam.” 

The older omega nuzzled the boy’s head affectionately as Cas and Dean bounded over. On his way, Castiel snarled at his oldest brother and Michael pressed his lips together and growled quietly. He fell silent when Dean turned to glare at him. 

“Samandriel! Are you hurt? Did he bite you?” Castiel fretted as he checked over his son. Samandriel remained plastered against Sam’s chest as he shook his head. 

“I’m fine, Dad,” he murmured, heart pumping faster than it should.

Castiel flicked his relieved gaze to Sam. “I can’t thank you enough. I have no idea how you responded so quickly, but I’m grateful for it.” 

Sam quirked a smile. “That’s what family’s for.”

Castiel’s face melted into a bright smile and Sam chuckled before trotting away to leave Cas and Dean to fuss over their pups.

* * *

Pride and awe shone in Gabriel’s gaze when Sam returned to him. 

“You’re incredible,” he said softly.

Sam huffed out a surprised laugh. “Didn’t I just attack your brother?” 

Gabriel chuckled and licked at a small cut on Sam’s cheek. “Yeah. It was amazing.”

The omega shook his head in amusement and allowed his mate to busy himself with nuzzling and licking at the shallow wounds Michael had managed to inflict upon him. 

“You’d make a wonderful father,” Gabriel said suddenly as he kissed his lover’s cheek.

Sam’s eyebrows raced upwards and he turned to his mate in bewilderment. “Where did that come from?” he asked quietly. 

Gabriel shrugged and continued to work on Sam’s injuries, but the omega pulled away and fixed his mate with a curious gaze. “Gabe?” 

Gabriel’s attention switched to the floor as he shrugged again. “Just think you’re good with pups. Protective.”

An excited smile twitched at Sam’s lips as he absorbed the implications of Gabriel’s words and strange behaviour. Ruby hated pups and Jessica had died before they had put any real effort into getting pregnant; could it be that Gabriel wanted…? 

“So are you,” Sam responded before leaning down to lick his alpha’s nose. Gabriel glanced at him briefly before averting his gaze again. 

“Gabe…” Sam whispered. “Do you want pups?”

Gabriel snapped his hopeful gaze to Sam and when Sam’s face lit up with eagerness, Gabriel grinned sheepishly. “I’m getting old, kiddo. You might still be young and full of life but I’m starting to get grey hairs and back pains and it won’t be long before the arthritis sets in.” 

Sam huffed a laugh and nuzzled his mate’s cheek. “Forty-seven is hardly old. You’re only just reaching your prime,” he teased. 

Gabriel nipped his jaw in playful scolding. “Easy to say when you’re thirty-two. Just wait until you have to pee seven times a night.” 

Sam grinned and cuddled up to his mate. He tucked Gabriel’s head beneath his and relished the alpha’s deep, contended rumble. 

“So… pups are on the bucket list?” Sam queried, voice barely above a whisper.

“I’ve never wanted to be like my brothers,” Gabriel mumbled. “I’ve never wanted to grow old and die alone and hated by everyone around me. Less than five years ago, I assumed that’s what would happen to me. My first mate cheated on me, my family fought non-stop, and I didn’t have a single friend who would stay by my side if the money ran out. Then I met you and all that changed.” 

He drew back to smile adoringly at his omega. “I have a loving mate and a new family who I would give my life for. It’s more than I could have ever dreamed of. I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with you, kiddo. This pack is more than I deserve.” 

A lopsided smile tugged at Sam’s lips as he cocked an eyebrow. “…But you really want a pup.”

“I _really, really_ want a pup,” Gabriel agreed, tone verging on a whine. 

“Then why didn’t you just say that?” Sam laughed warmly as he rubbed his cheek against his alpha’s.

“Because,” began Gabriel solemnly, “I don’t want you ever thinking that you aren’t enough to keep me happy. You’re more than enough and you mean the world to me.” 

“That’s very sweet and all,” hummed Sam, “but you’re allowed to want kids. I’d be honoured to give you pups, Gabe.” 

Gabriel’s entire body shook with the force of his wagging tail and he stared up at Sam hopefully. “You want little rugrats too?” 

Sam nodded, an amused smile lighting his face. “I want _your_ rugrats.”

Gabriel seemed barely able to contain his excitement. He licked Sam’s face sloppily and rubbed his scent over the omega’s body before wedging his head under Sam’s and inviting his mate to mark him. Sam did so with a chuckle and a swishing tail and he completely ignored Meg’s wolf-whistle from somewhere behind him. 

Gabriel abruptly reared backwards. “We’ll have to wait a few weeks though.”

Sam’s eyebrows pinched downwards in confusion. “Wait for what?” 

Gabriel flicked his gaze to his sulking older brothers and Sam’s lips tugged downwards. Gabriel offered him an apologetic look. 

“Not while they’re here. I don’t trust them,” Gabriel said quietly.

“You asked Dean to let them stay,” Sam pointed out. 

“It doesn’t mean I trust them,” sighed Gabriel. “At the moment, I know you can handle yourself, but if they attacked you whilst you were carrying our pup and you ended up losing it… I’d never forgive myself.” 

“Is my fierce alpha really saying that he doesn’t think he can protect me?”

“I’m being serious, Sam,” frowned Gabriel. 

“So am I,” Sam replied firmly. “You killed Ruby over me. You threw yourself in front of a bullet for Dean. If you can’t protect me and our pup, no one on this Earth can.” 

Gabriel exhaled slowly before fixing Sam with a pleading gaze. “I’ve never been able to fight my brothers. They’re stronger and more determined and I always wind up the loser. I’m not egotistical enough to believe that out here, I’ll suddenly be able to beat them. I love you, but I’ll never be able to protect you against them.” 

Sam didn’t look too pleased by Gabriel’s words, but he acquiesced eventually with a silent nod.

“Once they leave, I’ll fill you with as many pups as you want,” Gabriel promised. “Just… wait a little longer. Please.” 

Sam offered his mate a tight smile and Gabriel leaned into him apologetically. “I’m sorry, kiddo.”

Finally, Sam sighed. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Gabe. It just bothers me that they can control you like this merely by being here. I don’t like you being so nervous of them.” 

Gabriel laughed humourlessly. “I have good reason to be nervous. I don’t really want them here but if what they’re saying is true and our parents really have abandoned them…” He eyed his brothers warily. “No matter how much I don’t like them, I just can’t bring myself to watch them die out here all alone. There was a time when we all used to play together – before we grew up. There was a time when I really did love my brothers.” 

Sam gazed at his mate sadly. He couldn’t imagine being scared of Dean. He could barely think about the way he had treated Adam when they first met without feeling a little nauseous. He couldn’t fathom hating either of his brothers as much as the Novak brothers despised each other. 

“We can wait as long as you want,” Sam murmured as he nuzzled his lover’s cheek. “We have plenty of time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, if you spot any mistakes or have any constructive criticism (or just want to leave random comments!), it's all appreciated :)


	13. Chapter 13

Raphael didn’t know what Gabriel saw in that lumbering beast of an omega. There was nothing delicate about him; nothing pretty or inviting. Sam was all bulk and no finesse and he thought nothing of throwing Michael around like a rag doll. Omegas like that needed to be reminded who the boss was – they needed to be tamed and shaped into respectable mates. 

Somehow, Raphael doubted that Gabriel had the ability to put an omega like Sam in his place. Gabriel had always been the weakest alpha of the four of them. 

“You don’t think Gabriel’s actually _happily_ mated to him, do you?” Raphael murmured to his oldest brother as they observed the pack from the border of the camp. 

The sun beat down on them, warming their fur to almost uncomfortable levels. Michael lounged beside his brother, broken leg splayed perpendicular to the rest of his body and wounds beginning to itch as a result of the heat. 

“How can he be?” Michael muttered as he eyed Sam with distaste. The omega was horsing around with the pups, making a complete fool of himself. “Imagine committing to _that_.” 

Raphael flicked his gaze to Sam and watched the giant omega tumble to the floor gracelessly; a wounded howl leaving his throat as the giggling pups clambered over him. Raphael pressed his lips together. “Do you think he forced Gabriel into it?” 

“I doubt Gabriel willingly chose him,” scoffed Michael. “You know what he’s like. Gabriel has always bedhopped, the same as Lucifer. They’re both allergic to commitment – talk about wedding bells and they move on to the next conquest.” 

Raphael watched as Gabriel joined in the fray, seemingly on the side of the pups. He chewed on Sam’s tail playfully and Sam bounced to his feet and tackled Gabriel to the floor; both of them laughing when the pups suddenly switched teams and tormented Gabriel instead. 

Raphael’s brows pinched downwards. If Gabriel had been forced into mating Sam, he was certainly making a good show of pretending to enjoy the omega’s company. 

“Gabriel did marry Kali,” Raphael murmured. “And she cheated on him, not the other way around.”

Michael’s lips drew into a thin line as he watched their brother finally break free of Sam’s hold and run to Castiel. The pups giggled as Gabriel hid behind the black and tan omega and they cheered triumphantly when a sly smirk swept over Castiel’s features and he pounced on Gabriel. 

“That’s only what he told us,” muttered Michael. “I doubt Gabriel was faithful to her through their entire eleven years of marriage.” 

Suddenly, Dean galloped towards the scuffling Castiel and Gabriel and dragged Castiel away, allowing Gabriel to escape. The pups cheered and chased after him, alongside Sam, who switched course after a few seconds and ploughed into Dean; managing to free Castiel. 

“And Castiel? Do you think Dean forced him as well?” Raphael asked quietly.

As Dean and Sam struggled, Castiel and Gabriel joined forces and trapped the pups between them. The pups wriggled and laughed and batted at their captors, prompting Dean and Sam to call a truce and help restrain the four little wolves. They howled in defeat when the adults lay on them. 

“Castiel hates alphas,” mumbled Michael. “I doubt he had any say in who he mated when he joined this pack.”

The adults stood, allowing their giggling victims to rise. With wagging tails, all four pups butted the adults’ chests affectionately before running off to play a new game. Samandriel lingered a little longer and pressed his head to each adult’s head in turn. They smiled down at him warmly and nuzzled him as a family might have. 

Michael’s ears flattened as he squared his jaw.

“If Dean forced him, why isn’t Samandriel dead?” Raphael asked, voice barely a whisper. 

Michael was silent for a long while as he watched Gabriel and Castiel settle beside the Winchester brothers. He thought about Sam’s passionate statement the previous day – his order to not harm his nephew. He remembered the way Gabriel had snuggled up to him afterwards. 

“How can our brothers possibly like the Winchesters?” Michael murmured incredulously. “They’re wild folk. Unintelligent brutes. Their whole world consists of fighting, feeding, and fu-” He cut himself off and cleared his throat. “Breeding.” 

Raphael hid his smile.

“I hope you’re not referring to us when you talk about ‘unintelligent brutes’,” said an unimpressed, feminine voice. 

Michael and Raphael twisted their heads around in surprise to watch Jody approach them. She cocked an eyebrow as she came to a halt in front of them and Raphael immediately stood, ready to defend his injured brother if necessary. 

“Easy, tiger,” she snorted as she dropped a leather bag laden with medical supplies at their paws. “I’ve come to change those bandages.” 

Michael glanced at the dirty bandages around his chest and leg as Raphael flicked his gaze over to Dean and Sam, who were watching him intently, muscles tensed and ready to leap into action if either Novak raised a claw to Jody. He returned his wary gaze to the black beta. 

Michael and Raphael averted their gazes with heated cheeks when Jody morphed into her human form. She reached into her bag and threw a blanket around herself before offering them a knowing smile, and they raised their eyebrows in a combination of surprise and relief.

She tended quickly to Michael’s bandages, inspecting his injuries once she had revealed them and she cleaned and dressed them once more before glancing over his other healing wounds. She applied cream to a few and washed others and then she turned to Raphael. She checked his injuries – none of which were as deep or gruesome as Michael’s – and administered cream and cleaned them before packing up and shifting into her canine form.

“I’ll change those bandages again in a couple of days,” said Jody as she glanced over her work. “Try your best not to roll around in the mud again.”

Michael’s eyes widened and he sat upright, indignation sprawled over his face. “I hardly ‘rolled around in the mud’ the last time! That ogre of an omega grabbed me by the neck and dragged me through the filth and-”

“Watch it,” warned Jody with a scowl. “That _omega_ is part of my family and I won’t let an entitled jackass like you talk crap about him.”

Michael spluttered for a moment and Raphael narrowed his eyes. “After the humiliation my brothers and I have faced at the hands of your so-called _family,_ is it any wonder that we’re lacking in pleasant adjectives for them?”

Jody shook her head at the black-and-mocha-coloured alpha. “This coming from the same people who tried to kill us not too long ago? The same alphas who attempted fratricide _and_ nepoticide?”

Raphael grit his teeth. “Don’t play innocent in all this. You _stole_ our brothers and forced them to mate your boss and his second. You-”

Jody interrupted him with a bark of laughter and gestured to where Castiel and Gabriel were leaning into their lovers, chatting softly with tender smiles lighting their faces. When they caught Jody, Michael, and Raphael staring at them, they quietened and stared back curiously.

“Tell me, does that look forced to you?” Jody scoffed.

Raphael and Michael returned their gazes to her with identical sour expressions. 

“If the tables were turned, you’d have done anything to rescue your family from enemy hands,” said Michael darkly. “You’d have done everything to bring them home.” 

“Except those particular tables would never be turned,” snapped Jody, “because we would never set out to kill a pup and bring two of our family members home in order to beat them half to death and force them to mate someone who would treat them cruelly.” 

Michael averted his gaze at the reminder of how he had planned to mate Castiel off to Ketch. Raphael’s ears flattened. 

“We were wrong to try to kill Samandriel and we shouldn’t have threatened our brothers. But we realised that a long time ago and we’re _sorry_ ,” Raphael sighed. “We were disowned by our parents because we refused to follow their sadistic orders and now, we’re trying to better ourselves. We don’t want people to despise and fear us. We don’t want to fight each other all the time. We don’t want our little brothers to loathe us.” 

Jody’s gaze softened with pity. “You have a strange way of showing all that. You don’t respect Castiel or Gabriel and you’ve made no attempt to apologise to them since coming here. You nearly bit Samandriel yesterday. Why should they trust you? Why should any of us trust you?” 

“We’re enemies,” snorted Michael. “We’re not supposed to trust one another.”

“And yet any one of us would be willing to lay down our lives for your brothers and nephew,” commented Jody. “Do you think we trusted them when they first arrived?” 

Michael fell silent as Raphael tilted his head in contemplation.

“All I’m saying is… _try_. Show us that we can trust you. Show us that you’ve changed and maybe you’ll make a couple of friends,” Jody offered quietly. “It’s not all that hard to be nice.” She leaned down to collect her bag. 

“I’m uncertain if you understand the definition of the word ‘enemies’ but if you do, you’ll realise that the Novaks and Winchesters can never be _friends_ ,” Michael grumbled as he turned away. “There is far too much history between us. I’m surprised you haven’t killed us already to be honest. We’re vulnerable, after all.” He gestured to his fresh bandages. 

Jody exhaled slowly and shook her head. “I know you think we’re cruel and vicious and primitive but maybe if you made an effort to get to know us, you’d be able to see what’s making your brothers stick around. Just a thought.” 

“All we need to know is once we’re healed, you’ll chase us out of your _territory_ ,” Michael muttered as he cast his gaze beyond the camp and into the thick forest. 

Raphael regarded Jody carefully as she stared down at his older brother in obvious disapproval. She had been kind enough to clean their wounds and dress them and change their bandages when they were soiled. That wasn’t something that enemies did for each other, was it? 

“How would you suggest we prove that we’ve changed?” Raphael asked quietly.

Jody flicked her gaze to him in obvious surprise before licking her lips. “For starters, you could try talking to us without every other sentence being an insult.” 

Raphael dropped his gaze and gave an imperceptible nod. Jody cocked an eyebrow before picking up her bag and trotting back to her shelter. 

When Michael frowned at him, Raphael looked away.

* * *

“Ask him.” 

“What? No! You ask him.”

“You’ve got at least fifteen pounds on me! You’re less likely to bruise!” 

Lucifer cracked an eye open in irritation and glared balefully at the two bickering betas. Despite being over eight feet away, the betas fell silent and took a nervous step backwards. Lucifer huffed to himself and closed his eyes once more; with nothing to do and lacking in any desire to converse with his brothers, Lucifer was determined to spend his time resting with the hopes that his injuries would heal rapidly and he could return to the city – where he was _supposed_ to be. 

He felt two pairs of eyes staring at him.

“What?” he growled out. 

The leaner-framed beta, composed of black and white patches, edged forwards and cautiously lifted his chin. “Is it true that you once killed five members of the mafia after they tried to corner you at midnight in a dark alley in Italy?” 

Lucifer stared at them blandly, the seconds ticking by. The beta cleared his throat uncomfortably and shuffled backwards. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I’m just gonna-” 

“No.”

Both betas paused their retreat and glanced up at him. “Right, of course,” said the smaller of the two. “That was a stupid question. Of course you didn’t.” 

“It was the Russian mafia,” said Lucifer lowly. “And it was two o’clock in the morning.”

Both betas’ eyes bulged slightly and the black and white one braved a step closer. “The Russian mafia? You fought the Russian mafia all by yourself _and won_?” 

Lucifer blinked lazily at the pair. “I had a little help; a friend and my brother.”

The betas cast their gazes to where Michael and Raphael were engaged in deep conversation. 

“Michael?” guessed the one with ginger and white patches.

Lucifer huffed in amusement and lay his chin on his paws. “Gabriel.” 

The betas’ eyes widened comically as they whipped around to gawk at the small golden alpha draped over Sam.

Lucifer smirked. “Gabriel not told you that story?” 

They shook their heads and Lucifer chuckled darkly. “Surprise, surprise. Makes his big brothers out to be the bad guys and conveniently forgets about his own past. Classic Gabe.” 

Surprisingly, the betas frowned and the stockier one protested, “He isn’t the one who tried to set us all on fire, kill his own nephew, and drag his little brothers to the city for punishment.” 

“And he doesn’t bully anyone who isn’t an alpha,” added the slimmer beta. “He isn’t the bad guy here.”

Lucifer stared at them expressionlessly until they began to awkwardly shuffle their paws at the heavy silence. Finally, he stretched, tail curling with the effort, and he seated himself so that he was facing the smaller wolves. They swallowed nervously as he eyed them. 

“What are your names?” he asked pleasantly.

“Uh… Harry,” the black and white one said before gesturing to his friend. “And this is Ed.” 

“Well, Harry and Ed,” Lucifer began lightly, “do you know what I do to irritating insects that won’t stop buzzing in my ears?”

They shrunk in on themselves and started to back away and he followed them with a thin smile.

“Hey… we didn’t mean to upset you or anything,” stammered Ed as he tucked his tail between his legs. 

“But you have to admit, you are a bit of a dick,” said Harry, earning himself a jolting _thump_ from Ed’s shoulder.

Lucifer smiled as he advanced on them. Baring his teeth as a low growl vibrated in his chest, he snapped his jaws precariously close to Harry’s face and both betas yelped and took off towards the other side of the camp. Lucifer chuckled to himself and returned to his sunspot with a satisfied sigh. That would teach the rest of the Winchester pack to leave him alone; he had no intentions of interacting with any of them unless it was to paint them with their own blood. 

By the time he heard Dean’s approach, it was too late.

A startled sound tore from Lucifer’s throat as Dean latched onto his scruff and shook him roughly. There was very little pain other than the dull ache of where Dean’s teeth contacted his skin, but the shock of the action made Lucifer whine and his first instinct was to crouch into a ball and make himself smaller. His second instinct was to claw at Dean’s face. 

With blood trickling down his cheek, Dean refused to let go. He dragged Lucifer into the centre of the camp as the larger alpha slashed and kicked at his body, and they wrestled for a few moments before Dean managed to pin Lucifer onto his chest and straddle his back; his scruff still clamped between Dean’s teeth. 

Ears flat, Lucifer panted with exhaustion and panic and every muscle within him tensed, ready for round two. He waited for Dean to launch his second attack. 

However, Dean remained put, merely pinning Lucifer beneath him whilst seizing his scruff and after a couple of minutes of inactivity, Lucifer slumped in begrudging defeat. 

Dean released his neck but continued to restrain the larger alpha.

“You’re really making this hard for yourself,” Dean growled after a little while. “Thought I already told you what happens if I catch you attacking any of my pack?” 

“I didn’t attack them,” Lucifer snapped with a challenging rumble of his own. “I just didn’t want to talk to them.”

“Then you politely ask to be left alone,” hissed Dean. “You don’t snap at their faces. Ed! Harry! Get over here!” 

Lucifer frowned in confusion as both betas slunk over with wary gazes. Suddenly, Dean snarled down his ear, “Apologise.” 

Lucifer huffed out a laugh of disbelief. “Screw you! I’m a full-grown alpha! You can’t force me into apologising just because I hurt their feelings.” 

“Like I’ve already said,” growled Dean. “Since your parents did such a shitty job at raising you and your brothers, I’m gonna knock some manners into you all. If that means scruffing you like a pup and nipping your flanks every time you step out of line, then so be it.” 

“Once I’m healed, I’m going to castrate you, Winchester.”

Lucifer yelped as Dean bit his withers – nothing too hard, but still enough to catch him off-guard. 

“Apologise,” Dean demanded again.

Lucifer’s chest rumbled with anger and he abruptly flipped over onto his back and raked his claws through Dean’s face. Dean hissed at the sting and reared backwards when Lucifer clenched his teeth around his nose. Now unrestrained, Lucifer lurched upwards and threw his paws around Dean’s back, simultaneously clawing at his shoulders and kicking at his stomach with his hind legs. Air rushed out of Dean with a grunt and Lucifer opened his jaws wide and aimed for Dean’s throat, only for Dean to slam a paw sharply into Lucifer’s windpipe. 

Lucifer choked, body crashing into the ground as hacking coughs shook his chest, and Dean snarled and stomped a paw against Lucifer’s vulnerable belly. The bigger alpha groaned and realised he had made a mistake in rolling onto his back. He tried his best to shield his throat from attack and braced for a fatal blow, only to squeak in bewilderment when Dean rolled him onto his chest again and scruffed him. 

Dean threw him around a little before dragging him half way around the camp and this time, Lucifer was too puzzled to fight back. He stumbled after Dean awkwardly as the smaller alpha heaved him around by the scruff of his neck and when he was satisfied, he shoved Lucifer to the ground again and returned to straddling him. 

Around them, members of the Winchester pack stared on in amusement; some smiling and others wagging their tails as though they found it entertaining how their leader was admonishing an alpha over a decade older than him by parading him around like a naughty child. 

Lucifer cast his gaze to Michael and Raphael, who watched him with matching disturbed expressions and he quickly averted his gaze, humiliation filling his gut. 

Why hadn’t Dean fought him? Lucifer had begun the fight viciously and Dean’s fur was slick with his own blood, yet the younger alpha had merely rolled him over like a misbehaving child and hauled him around in front of his pack, and now Lucifer was no better off than when he had started. Would this happen every time Dean scolded him? Why wasn’t Dean attacking him? That’s how his father would have handled Lucifer disobeying his orders. That’s how Michael would have dealt with him. He was a fully-grown adult for goodness sake! Adults didn’t nip and scruff one another – they fought until one of them backed down or was too injured to continue. 

“I’m not a child,” Lucifer said, aiming for furious but hitting petulant instead.

“Apologise,” Dean repeated around a mouthful of Lucifer’s fur. 

Doing his best to ignore the amused smirks of the Winchester pack, Lucifer kept his lips sealed firmly shut.

Dean released him and suddenly nipped his ear, startling the larger alpha. “You’re not getting up until you apologise. I can wait here all afternoon.” 

“Get off me,” Lucifer attempted to growl, only to grimace when it came off as more of a whine.

Dean nipped his other ear. “Apologise.” 

Lucifer wriggled and winced when a few members of the pack snickered at him. “Stop treating me like a child!” he snapped. 

Lucifer’s jaw fell slack when Dean responded by _sitting on him_. He stilled beneath the smaller alpha, eyes wide with astonishment and cheeks burning with shame as more pack members began to giggle and grin. 

He yelped when Dean gently nipped his shoulder. “Apologise.”

What embarrassed him the most was that he could _feel_ how careful Dean was being to not aggravate any of his injuries. His enemy was actively avoiding hurting him despite how moments ago, Lucifer had just torn through Dean’s face and shoulders. Zachariah would have rendered Lucifer a bloody mess if Lucifer had attacked him with half the effort that he had attacked Dean with. 

“Stop this immature demonstration right now!” Lucifer insisted, his tone almost pleading.

Dean nipped his back. “You know how to stop this, Lucifer.” 

Lucifer was shocked to find his vision beginning to blur as his eyes prickled with the glaze of tears. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes closed, both disgusted and angry with himself. He felt his stomach drop when Michael first spoke. 

Big brother to the rescue. Again. Because Lucifer would always be worthless compared to Michael, exactly like his parents had thought. 

“Get off Lucifer this instant,” snapped Michael, hobbling over with his broken leg. “How dare you treat him like this! We’re respected civilised alphas and we-” 

“You volunteering for the same lesson?” Dean interrupted with an arched eyebrow. “Because Sam’s free at the moment and you’d probably benefit from some of this too.” 

Michael scowled and prowled towards Dean. “Listen here, you arrogant little shit! You’re not our head alpha and we don’t take orders from wild savages who murder, fight, and rape for entertainment!” 

“Sam,” Dean ordered and before Michael could blink, he was being held by his scruff and heaved around the camp. 

Lucifer grimaced at his brother’s stunned yelps and he startled when Dean nipped his side again. He stubbornly remained silent, even when Michael was dropped beside him and Sam moved to straddle him. 

“I suppose we have two lessons we have to teach now. The first is that we don’t solve our arguments by threatening people or attacking them.” Here, Dean nipped Lucifer’s ear. “And the second is that we don’t proudly declare that we won’t co-operate with the pack who has been kind enough to treat our wounds, and then go on to accuse them of being murderers and rapists!” Here, Sam nipped Michael’s ear. 

“So, what do you boys have to say for yourselves?” Dean drawled as the pack tittered to themselves at their leader’s dramatics. 

Michael snarled and tried, in vain, to snap at Sam’s paws. He received a nipped shoulder for his efforts, followed by Sam using his back as a seat. 

Dean shook his head with a theatrical sigh before shifting his gaze to Lucifer.

Lucifer had never felt so humiliated in his life. He wasn’t even angry with Dean anymore – he was ashamed of himself for slashing at the other alpha when Dean refused to fight back. His father had always battered him when he dared snap or lash out at his head alpha and Lucifer had always hated him for it. It gave him more fuel for his fury to grow and burn. The same went for his brawls with his brothers – except on those occasions, he didn’t restrain himself and he was accustomed to one of them limping away bruised and bloodied. 

Dean though… Dean wasn’t _hurting_ him. He was treating him like he would any of his own pups and Lucifer didn’t know how to react to that. Lucifer had kicked and clawed and snapped and Dean wasn’t returning any of it. 

He flicked his gaze around the snickering pack until he found his youngest brothers. Gabriel wasn’t smiling or laughing like the rest of the pack; he didn’t seem to find Dean’s lesson the least bit entertaining. However, he had a glint of determination in his eyes, or maybe it was approval, and when he caught Lucifer’s gaze, he merely stared at him unimpressed. 

Castiel refused to even look at him.

Lucifer’s body grew hot and itchy with blossoming shame and he squeezed his eyes shut when they once again shone with tears. A memory came to him – the first time his mother had smacked him. It hadn’t hurt but he had been in the middle of the park and, not having many friends to begin with, all the other children had laughed and pointed at him. He had felt utterly humiliated and he had run into Michael’s room when he got home, where his big brother had held him and soothed him with his favourite book. 

He missed having family that loved him.

His breath trembled a little as he exhaled and he jerked when Dean leaned close to his ear. 

“What about you?” he asked softly, voice meant for Lucifer’s ears alone. “Got anything to say?”

Lucifer gave a tiny nod. “I’m sorry, alpha,” he whispered. 

“Not to me,” Dean said quietly and Lucifer internally cursed himself for allowing the other alpha to hear the weakness in his voice. Why couldn’t Dean growl and shout at him like any normal alpha would? 

He took a moment to collect himself and Dean didn’t push him to speed up. Slumped over the floor and ears plastered to his skull, Lucifer glanced up at Ed and Harry with dry eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely, “for threatening you.”

Ed and Harry’s tails swayed as smiles pulled at their lips. “Sorry for calling you a dick,” Harry chirped cheerily. 

Lucifer blinked in surprise then froze when Dean slid off him. He remained sprawled over the floor uncertainly and startled when Dean gently nudged his side. When he still didn’t budge, Dean butted his shoulder. 

“Come on, get up,” Dean murmured. “We’re done.”

He stared up at Dean with wide eyes and watched blood drip down his jaw. He remained on the ground, wondering when Dean was going to return the favour. 

Dean cocked an eyebrow and when Lucifer gave no inclination of moving, he shrugged and trotted over to Michael and Sam. 

Lucifer was silent as he watched his brother snarl and struggle and spew insults at Sam and Dean, earning himself a variety of scolding nips to various parts of his anatomy. Unlike Lucifer, Michael had no strength in one of his hindlimbs and Sam easily kept him pinned. He gazed on in silence, feeling oddly subdued and calmer than he had earlier, and he idly noted that Dean was making no move to touch Michael; leaving his brother to dole out punishment instead. Lucifer was confused by Dean’s choice – Michael was a rival lead alpha. Should Dean not order his pack to gang up on Michael like Azazel had? At the very least, shouldn’t Dean be reprimanding Michael himself? 

After long minutes of watching his brother tire and cultivate his frustrations, Lucifer shook his head in exasperation. 

“Michael, just apologise,” he said, causing Michael to pause and stare at him in bewilderment. The rest of the pack fell quiet, each of them flicking curious gazes to Lucifer. 

“I beg your pardon?” Michael asked incredulously.

Lucifer briefly spared Dean a glance before dropping his gaze as embarrassment threatened his features. “Just apologise to them. That’s all they want. Then they’ll let you go.” 

Michael’s mouth imitated a goldfish for a few seconds before he scoffed, “I’ve done nothing wrong!”

Sam nipped his ear and he snarled violently at the younger omega. 

“You called them murderers and rapists,” mumbled Lucifer.

Michael barked out an almost hysterical laugh as he stared at his brother in disbelief. “They have forced our little brothers into mating them! What else should I call them?” 

Lucifer opened his mouth to argue, but it wasn’t his voice that answered Michael.

“Don’t you dare,” seethed Castiel. “Don’t you dare start with that crap!” He stalked over to Michael, scent reeking of rage and disgust. 

Michael stared up at him in surprise but before he managed to get a single word out, Castiel snarled at him. “Don’t pretend that this little show is about Gabriel’s or my wellbeing! Don’t pretend to care about us and then condemn those who actually do!” 

“You can’t seriously be happy with these… these wild savages!” Michael said. “They’re violent and backwards and they’re so incredibly _stupid-”_

A deep snarl tore from Castiel’s throat and Lucifer was half convinced that he would lay into Michael.

“They are _my family_ ,” Castiel spat. “They have no more forced me into mating Dean than you were forced to prance about in the wild! Dean offers both me and my son kindness, love, and protection _from you_. So yes, I’m very happy with these so-called ‘savages’ and I’m proud to be one of them!” 

A tense silence fell between oldest and youngest brother until Gabriel piped up quietly, “Ditto.”

Lucifer regarded the Winchester pack and his brothers carefully. There was a soft, proud quirk to Dean’s lips and Sam’s gaze shone with affection – not only for Gabriel, but seemingly Castiel as well. Castiel looked fierce and indomitable, as though willing to defend the Winchester pack until his dying breath and Lucifer tried to recall the last time that he had seen Castiel this passionate about anything. Had he ever stood up to Michael like this? 

Michael, on the other hand, looked rather put out by Castiel’s fighting spirit. It appeared as though he hadn’t expected their brother to refute his opinions of the Winchester pack. 

“Michael, just say you’re sorry,” Lucifer murmured because he couldn’t see the use in pushing the argument when it was clearly untrue that Castiel and Dean shared no love for one another. 

Michael shot him a withering glare and Lucifer grimaced, knowing he had just landed himself as the object of his brother’s ire. He turned his head away and forced himself to be silent, ignoring the puzzled looks he received from the surrounding Winchester pack members. 

“You should listen to your brother,” Dean commented. “He’s clearly a quick learner.”

Lucifer’s ears pricked up at the praise and he internally cursed himself for being so pathetic. He focused on a small beetle trundling its way towards a dandelion. 

“I won’t be forced into bending to your will, Winchester,” Michael hissed. “You’re not my alpha and you never will be.” 

Sam nipped his neck and Michael snarled at him frustratedly.

“I was leader of the Novak family!” Michael roared as he renewed his struggle beneath Sam’s larger body. “I will not bow down to a Winchester! It’s an insult!” 

Dean blew out a long breath as Sam nipped the white wolf’s side.

“Well, you’re gonna be here a long time then, aren’t you?” Dean huffed, irritation flickering across his face. “Because I won’t have guests accusing my pack of being things they aren’t, and I definitely don’t allow uncooperative, dangerous enemies to go unpunished – injured or not.” 

Chest heaving, Michael glared up at Dean with as much hatred and disdain as he could muster. “Don’t pretend you aren’t thrilled by these circumstances,” he hissed. “You’re the same as every other wild alpha. You don’t really care how I describe your pack – you just crave the exhilaration of forcing another lead alpha to submit to you. I’ll bet it arouses you to dominate other alphas in this way.” 

Dean’s mouth drew into a thin, disgusted line and Sam growled out a warning from above his captive.

Lucifer watched as Dean and Michael glared daggers at one another and he shook his head wearily before crawling to his feet. 

“Give it a rest, brother,” Lucifer sighed. “It won’t kill you to apologise. If I’ve done as much, so can you.”

Michael shifted his fiery gaze to Lucifer and on another day, Lucifer might have scowled right back and challenged his brother. As it was, he was tired and Michael was being overly stubborn. He lowered his head submissively, accepting whatever trouble he had just landed himself in. 

Michael huffed and bit out an acidic “ _Sorry.”_

At Dean’s reluctant nod, Sam slid away from Michael and allowed the alpha to struggle upright. A soft growl left the large omega’s throat as he stalked his way back to Gabriel’s side. 

“It doesn’t have to be this difficult,” Dean said lowly as Michael narrowed his eyes. “Why are you making this so hard for everyone?” 

Michael said nothing as he prowled past Dean, a challenging rumble in his chest. Dean growled right back but made no move to follow. 

“Lucifer,” Michael snapped sharply. “A word.”

Eyes sliding shut and a soft sigh tumbling from his lips, Lucifer trailed after his brother. He could smell the sour scent of rage and spite rolling off the other alpha in thick waves. He tried to convince himself that Michael really did just want a quick conversation with him but he knew that he was lying to himself. 

He dropped his gaze at Dean’s frown but managed to raise his head a little higher by the time he reached his brother’s position. 

“Was there something on your mind?” Lucifer asked, acutely aware of their curious audience.

He braced for the claw that slashed through his muzzle. 

“Don’t ever undermine me like that again,” Michael snarled as Lucifer watched his own blood spot the grass. Beside them, Raphael dropped his gaze, ears flattened and he kept silent as Michael exposed his teeth to Lucifer. 

Suddenly, there was a deeper, more intimidating growl followed by a brief cacophony of yelps and snarls and Lucifer snapped his head up to find Michael on the ground once more, restrained and scruffed by Dean. 

“You’re desperate for my attention today, aren’t you, Novak?” Dean smirked, but Lucifer could see the unconcealed outrage sparking in his gaze and he blinked at the smaller alpha in confusion. What had Michael done this time? 

Clearly, Michael was thinking along the same lines. “I wasn’t even addressing your pack!” he protested. “What am I being punished for?” 

“Harming a pack member,” Dean sneered, pressing more of his weight onto Michael’s back.

“I haven’t laid a claw on any of your pack!” yelled Michael. “What are you talking about?” 

“Then why is Lucifer’s face covered in blood?”

Michael fell silent in shock as Lucifer shifted his wide-eyed gaze to Dean. Even Raphael’s jaw swung in the breeze. 

Finally, Michael gathered his wits. “Lucifer isn’t your pack,” he said slowly.

“Does he sleep in my camp?” 

“Well, yes-”

“Does he eat in my camp?” 

“…Yes, but-”

“Do we share our medical supplies with him?” 

“…I suppose-”

“Then what has given you the impression that he is not a part of the Winchester pack, however temporary?” Dean asked sternly, gaze narrowed towards the back of Michael’s head. 

“He’s my brother,” Michael frowned. “He isn’t part of your pack and I am his alpha.”

“ _I_ am his alpha,” Dean growled fiercely. “Just as I am yours for however long you choose to stay here. That means he is under _my_ protection and anyone who harms him has to answer to _me_. Do I make myself clear?” 

Stunned, Michael kept his mouth firmly shut and yelped in surprise when Dean abruptly rolled him onto his back. 

“When I say you don’t lay a claw on my pack, I mean _any_ of my pack,” Dean murmured darkly as he pushed into Michael’s personal space. “Your brothers are mine now and if I catch you hurting them, I’ll do more than drag you around by the scruff of your neck.” He flicked his gaze between Raphael and Lucifer. “That goes for all of you, capisce? Any of you start fighting and I’m not afraid to show you all who’s boss.” 

Raphael nodded warily and Michael’s lips parted in astonishment as he stared up at Dean.

Something warm and unfamiliar stirred in Lucifer’s stomach and he swallowed thickly as his gaze roamed over Dean. His eyes lingered on the wound he had inflicted upon Dean’s cheek and guilt crashed into him and seized his heart with an iron grip. Dean was defending him despite having countless reasons not to. 

Had anyone ever defended him against his older brother before? Even their own parents had left them to fight.

Dean hopped off Michael with a huff. “You don’t solve arguments by beating each other up. You’re supposed to be brothers,” he grumbled as he turned his back on the three Novaks and made his way over to the centre of the camp. “Start acting like it.” 

As Michael cautiously rolled to his paws, Lucifer stared after Dean with a light feeling bubbling in his chest. A moment later, he frowned at himself. Alphas weren’t supposed to need another alpha’s protection – it meant that they were weak and useless. 

He dropped his gaze, shame drowning out the warm feeling in his stomach and the fluttering in his chest. He had once again been bested by his older brother; so much so, that Dean had been forced to intervene. 

He crept away from his brothers whilst they were busy staring after Dean in shock and he settled at the trunk of a thick oak tree, hoping that the expansive shadows cast by the leafy boughs would be enough to hide him and his thoughts for a little while. 

Perhaps he could take heed of Dean’s advice and play a tad nicer with the Winchester pack? After all, he should probably find some way of showing his thanks for Dean not giving him a harsher punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... uni starts back again next week so I apologise if updates don't come quite on time! I'll try though


	14. Chapter 14

The hunting party had returned with a meal for the stragglers that had been left behind at the camp, which included the three elder Novak brothers, the pups, Pam, and Bobby and Ellen, who clearly didn’t trust the Novaks around the Winchester pack’s pups. 

So far, the Novaks had shied away from raw meat since it didn’t agree with their sensitive, city-cuisine-accustomed stomachs, but a little over a week into their stay with the Winchesters, Jody had insisted that the Novaks had to eat some sort of protein if they wanted to give their bodies the best chance at healing. 

The Novaks reluctantly agreed and made their way over to the half doe offered to them. Pam, Bobby, and Ellen had finished eating and the pups were digging in, tails motoring as they filled their little bellies with fresh meat. The Novak brothers slunk forwards and wrinkled their noses at the unappetising smell of deer gut. 

Just as Lucifer leaned down to take a bite of muscle, Benny lurched forwards with a snarl and Lucifer scuttled backwards in surprise. 

“You can eat when they’ve finished,” Benny growled as he gestured to the pups. “And no sooner.”

“Excuse me?” Lucifer said indignantly. 

“What don’t you understand about ‘bottom of the pack’?” asked Benny as he tilted his chin defiantly.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” huffed Michael. “They’re children. Why should children take precedence over adults? And injured ones at that. At the very least, surely we can eat together?” 

“Bottom of the pack,” Benny articulated slowly as though talking to a particularly dim animal. “You eat last.”

The Novaks glanced around the camp and were dismayed to find that the rest of the pack seemed to be completely ignoring them as they pottered about their own business. 

Michael edged closer to the doe but immediately sat when an intimidating snarl tore from Benny’s throat.

“Wait,” Benny commanded, proceeding to glare at the brothers until the pups bounded away to play. Finally, he turned away without a word, leaving the Novaks to scavenge what was left of the shredded doe. 

Once they had eaten, they slunk to the outskirts of the camp to soothe their protesting stomachs and feel sorry for themselves. The faint scent of vanilla and oranges caught their attention and they looked up to see Jody cautiously approaching them, medical bag between her teeth. 

“I’ve come to change your bandages and check you over,” she supplied as she came to a halt in front of them, dropping her bag by her paws. 

“Get it over with then,” grumbled Michael moodily as he rolled onto his side to allow her access to his leg.

She once again shifted into her human form and threw a blanket around herself to reduce their discomfort. Then she diligently peeled off old bandages and applied new ones and reset the splint at Michael’s left hindlimb. She slathered the three of them in more creams and ointments and replaced soiled gauze before quickly packing everything away. 

When she had returned to her canine form, Raphael spoke softly, “Thank you.”

She hesitated and glanced over her shoulder at him. “…There’ll be a storm tonight, I think. Air feels charged. I suggest making yourselves some sort of shelter.” 

Raphael’s mouth turned downwards. They didn’t know how to do that. Instead of confessing their lack of knowledge, he said, “Thank you for telling us.” 

Jody cocked an eyebrow at him. “You do… know how to go about building a shelter, right?”

Raphael paused, uncertainty flickering across his face and he briefly glanced to his brothers before giving her a stilted shake of his head. 

Her lips quirked in amusement, crows’ feet crinkling her eyes. “Would you like me to show you?”

Michael and Lucifer remained silent so Raphael gave a sheepish nod. “What do we need?” 

Jody’s tail wiggled a little. “Sticks, branches, leaves… just take a look at ours for inspiration.” She gestured around the camp and all the hand-crafted shelters dotted within it. 

Raphael wondered how long it would take to learn how to pack mud together and twine vines around the branches to keep their shelter sturdy. Would they pick it up in a single afternoon? 

Jody trotted away with her medical bag between her jaws, but soon returned with something new clasped between her teeth. 

“You might need these,” she said as she dropped a tube of glue and a roll of duct tape at Raphael’s paws.

Raphael huffed a laugh. “I didn’t realise glue and tape grew on bushes.” 

Jody smirked. “Well, you learn something new every day out here.” She looked up at the sky for a moment before offering the brothers a patient smile. “Shall we begin?” 

Michael trailed after them with a grumble.

* * *

“I don’t understand why you haven’t kicked them out.” 

Dean studied his lover’s scowl as they watched Jody teach the older Novak brothers how to create shelters. Out of the three of them, Raphael appeared to be the most skilled and a smile touched his lips as he worked. Lucifer and Michael grew increasingly frustrated throughout the process and the blankets wrapped around their human forms did nothing to ease their struggling with various sticks and leaf litter. 

“Because Gabe asked me to give them a chance,” frowned Dean, tone careful. He was surprised by Castiel’s hostility towards his brothers – his lover seemed constantly on edge and there was a bitter undertone to his normally sweet and refreshing scent of honey and ocean, which had worsened over the week. 

“You’ve given them more than one chance,” Castiel huffed. “How many times have they attacked you? Michael nearly bit Samandriel a couple of days ago. It doesn’t matter how many times you reprimand them; they keep _pushing_.” 

Dean shifted uncomfortably. “They’re not gonna change in a day, Cas. They don’t understand how things work around here yet. We have to teach them.” 

“They don’t deserve your patience,” growled Castiel. “Nor your time. We should have left them where we found them.” 

“I get that you hate them,” sighed Dean. “But if they really have been disowned by your parents, maybe they can change? You don’t have to talk to them, but at least let the rest of us try and turn them into decent people.” 

Castiel’s scowl darkened and he turned away from Dean. “Fine,” he grumbled as he slunk towards their shelter. “But when they turn on us, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

Dean stared after him wearily.

* * *

“Samandriel? Are you awake?” 

“Yeah. Are you okay?”

Ben wriggled away from Dean’s side and carefully stepped around both adults to find Samandriel tucked between Castiel’s paws. 

“Can’t sleep,” whispered Ben.

Samandriel’s gaze softened. “Nightmare?” 

Ben nodded sheepishly.

Samandriel slowly untangled himself from his father’s paws without waking him and padded over to his friend. Ben made a soft sound of approval when the alpha curled around him and nuzzled his head soothingly. He leaned into the little alpha and nuzzled his back in appreciation. 

They cuddled for a few minutes, marking and scenting until they were satisfied that they smelled of each other, and then Samandriel cast his gaze to the entrance of their shelter. The rain pelted the ground relentlessly and thunder echoed through the trees as bright flashes of lightning cracked overhead in the black sky. 

Samandriel grinned mischievously. “Wanna go outside?”

Ben eyed him in horror before a smile broke over his face. “Yeah.” 

They beamed at each other and sprinted into the warm air outside. The rain soaked into their skin and the thunder caused their hearts to beat a little quicker, but the forest smelled sweet and smoky in a way that reminded Samandriel of barbeques in the city, and both pups giggled as they raced through the camp with their eyes half-closed against the winds. 

Samandriel ploughed into Ben and they laughed as they wrestled, rolling over the ground until they were plastered in mud and leaves. Ben won their battle and sprung to his paws, allowing Samandriel to follow suit. Ben quickly pressed into Samandriel again, wedging his head under the alpha’s chin as Samandriel rumbled contentedly. Unable to resist, they marked one another again before bouncing around the camp once more, chasing and nipping at one another until Ben slipped on a patch of wet mud and Samandriel pounced on him. 

They struggled and batted at one another until Ben fell limp beneath the young alpha and Samandriel snuggled into him with a quiet noise of triumph. Mud squelched beneath them but neither pup cared as they rolled onto their sides and wrapped their paws around one another. Once again, Ben shoved his head under Samandriel’s. 

“We’ll always be friends, right?” Ben whispered.

Samandriel nodded furiously and held the omega a little tighter. 

“And… you won’t leave me, will you?” Ben murmured in a small voice. “You’ll stay here with me forever, right?”

Samandriel licked the omega’s head gently and snuffled at his ears. “You’re my best friend. Why would I ever leave you?” 

Ben wriggled closer to the alpha. “I don’t want your uncles to take you away,” he confessed softly. “I don’t want them to hurt you.” 

Samandriel huffed and relaxed into his friend. “Dad and Dean won’t let that happen. And neither will uncle Gabe and uncle Sam.” He nuzzled Ben’s head gently. “Is that what your nightmare was about?” 

Ben nodded and rolled Samandriel onto his back as he straddled him. “I love you, Samandriel. I don’t want to lose my best friend,” he whimpered. 

Samandriel threw his paws around the omega and butted their heads together affectionately. “I love you too, Ben. And nothing’s going to happen to me; don’t worry. What happened in your dream?” 

Ben settled on top of the alpha and smiled when Samandriel held him tight to his chest. “It was really horrible,” he whispered. “Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael cornered us when we were playing and there were no adults around us. They were snarling and laughing at us when we tried to escape and then Raphael grabbed me while Lucifer and Michael attacked you, and there was all this blood and you were screaming and I couldn’t help and… and…” Tears sprung to his eyes as he choked in air and Samandriel nosed at his muddy cheeks, brushing his tears away. 

“It was like Mom all over again,” Ben whined before burying his face in Samandriel’s neck.

“I’ll never leave you,” Samandriel promised fiercely as he rubbed his chin over Ben’s head. “And I won’t let my uncles hurt either of us. Ever.” 

Ben let out a shaky breath and squeezed his friend gratefully. “I really do love you, Samandriel. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” 

“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had too,” whispered Samandriel as he licked the omega’s cheek.

Ben smiled shyly and nestled into the alpha, uncaring of their drenched fur and the whistling winds. Samandriel made him too happy to care. 

Suddenly, Samandriel wrinkled his nose. “Hey, do you smell that?”

Ben frowned and sniffed the air. “Yeah… smells weird.” 

“Smells like wet cat,” said Samandriel, puzzled. “Like when our neighbour used to spray the strays with his hose to keep them off the lawn.” 

Ben cocked an eyebrow in amusement.

Samandriel grinned at him and Ben shook his head as they clambered to their paws and attempted to locate the source of the strange scent. They ambled towards the outskirts of the camp, creeping past the older Novaks’ creaking shelters, and sniffed the air again. 

A throaty hiss caught their attention and they swivelled their heads to see a stocky, male mountain lion prowling towards them. 

Their eyes widened and Ben howled in alarm to alert the rest of the pack before Samandriel forced him to turn tail and rocket towards the centre of the camp. 

The mountain lion was far quicker.

He surged towards them and wrapped an enormous paw around Samandriel, claws extending when the pup growled and bit at him. Samandriel yelped as one claw grazed his side and the lion snarled and threw him against a tree like a toy. 

Ben paused, blood rushing between his ears as he watched the lion stalk towards the dazed Samandriel, and he howled a war cry before charging towards the lion and biting as hard as he could at his legs. The lion yowled and raised a paw to hit Ben, but Samandriel’s vision cleared and he jumped upwards and sunk his teeth into the lion’s hovering paw. 

The mountain lion hissed in pain and smashed Samandriel into the tree again with the back of his paw and he kicked out at Ben when the pup snapped at his heels once more. Ben tumbled to the ground and watched in terror as the lion’s jaw swung open to reveal long, sharp teeth, which soared towards Samandriel’s head. 

“Samandriel!” Ben screamed as the adults began scrambling out of their shelters in confusion.

A panicked Dean and Castiel were already half way across the camp, but Ben knew deep in his heart that it would be too late by the time they reached the lion. 

A white wolf crashed into the lion, making him stumble, and the wolf snarled and latched onto the lion’s neck until he received a claw to the face for his efforts. 

He shook his head, blood quickly washed away by the rain, and lunged at the lion again. This time, the lion was prepared and sunk both sets of claws into the wolf’s sides as he reared high into the air, jaws wide. 

A dirty blond and white wolf joined in the fray, wrapping his paws around the lion’s middle as he attacked the cat’s stomach, and the three of them fell into the mud, clawing and growling and biting at each other. 

By the time Dean and Castiel closed in on the scene, a third wolf had joined the first two – this one black and coffee-coloured. He tore at the lion’s face and received a harsh bite to his muzzle that had him whining in pain. 

Accepting defeat, the lion kicked out at his assailants and scrambled away, back to wherever he had come from.

The Winchester pack gaped at the pups’ saviours. 

Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael stared back, looking worse-for-wear with blood dribbling down their fur and new wounds gracing their bodies. Michael’s bandages were torn and soiled with blood and filth and one of Lucifer’s gauze squares had fluttered to the ground, leaving his wound contaminated with mud and leaves. 

Michael collapsed with an agonised whine.

Somewhere behind Dean and Castiel, Jody cursed and zipped inside for her medical bag. 

With bewilderment sprawled over his face, Dean cautiously edged towards the three brothers. Then he shook his head at himself and glanced over his shoulder to the rest of his gawking pack. “Don’t just stand there. Help clean them up and keep them warm!” 

The Winchester pack jumped into action, albeit with puzzlement etched onto their features. They grabbed blankets and cloths and pieces of crumbling soap bars and anything else they could find in their personal bags as Dean carefully supported Michael into a standing position. He aided him towards the stream crashing through their camp at speeds effected by the winds, and Michael leaned into the younger alpha as he limped through the mud. 

Raphael and Lucifer followed after them; Lucifer also appearing to struggle with one of his legs, and the three brothers lay in the cool water, relief flooding their expressions as the blood and filth were washed away. 

They startled when the rest of the Winchester pack joined them – some in clothed human form and others as wolves – and began scrubbing the dirt from their faces and the rest of their body. They marvelled at how gentle the pack was when cleaning their wounds and found themselves unable to resist leaning into those caring hands. 

Charlie made a soft sound of surprise when Raphael pressed his head into her palm and she rubbed his ear for a moment before tenderly cleaning the deep bite wounds around his muzzle. In a moment of weakness, he licked her palm in gratitude and a smile crept across her face as she stroked his head. 

Lucifer closed his eyes as Crowley and Meg bathed his wounds and the two mates shared a startled glance when he leaned towards them in encouragement. Beside him, Michael cautiously shuffled closer to Dean and rested his head on the other alpha’s shoulder blades so that his nose wouldn’t be submerged in water. Dean stilled uncertainly but didn’t push him away as his pack continued to work on the three brothers. 

Finally, Jody bustled through the crowd and worked her magic first on Raphael before progressing to Lucifer. As Michael waited his turn, Dean lapped hesitantly at the fresh wounds on his chest and the older alpha raised his head and stared at Dean with wide eyes. Dean met his gaze briefly before turning his attention to the deep claw marks intersecting old injuries on Michael’s side. He lapped at them to stem the blood flow and Michael exhaled shakily as he watched three other wolves aid Dean’s mission. 

“Shoo,” Jody ordered when she reached Michael and although Benny, Jo, and Ellen scuttled backwards, Dean remained by Michael’s side – at a respectable enough distance for Jody to work – and Michael felt strangely relaxed as Jody patched him up again. She guided the three brothers out of the water whilst she bandaged them up and the pack shuffled after them, craning their necks in curiosity. 

“Thank you,” Raphael murmured once she had finished and she offered him a sad smile before trotting back through the mud to her shelter. 

Suddenly, the pack surged forwards again and swaddled the brothers in warm blankets and the Novaks stiffened anxiously as they were fussed over. They quickly relaxed and Dean nudged at Michael’s side. 

“Go inside and get yourselves warm,” he said softly, rain cascading down his face until he looked something akin to a drowned rat. 

Michael nodded, following Dean’s orders without protest for the first time.

“And guys,” Dean called as his pack dispersed and he was left staring at the Novaks’ retreating forms. The trio turned to him with pricked ears. 

“Thank you,” he said sincerely as Samandriel, Ben, and Castiel joined his side.

Michael glanced at Castiel and watched a frown pinch his brows as he stared at the soggy floor, still refusing to look at his older brothers. 

With a stiff nod, Michael slid into his shelter, wrapped in blankets that smelled of his enemies.

* * *

By the following afternoon, the ground was dry and the air hot. The Winchester pack didn’t seem to be going to such great lengths to avoid the older Novak brothers, even if they didn’t strike up any conversations with them either. There was hushed gossip of the previous night and the Novaks had received several not-so-subtle glances from the rest of the pack, but Michael didn’t care for any of that as he lounged under the brilliant sun and soaked up the heat. 

His brothers were somewhere behind him, also completely avoiding the subject of last night, and Michael ignored them in favour of inspecting his new bandages. 

His body ached and stung and there were pains in places he didn’t even know he had. Still, the warmth helped and he was grateful to Jody for offering some painkillers last night before bed and this morning when he woke up. He was really beginning to appreciate the black beta. 

Laying his head on his paws, he closed his eyes. He didn’t really know what had possessed him to attack the mountain lion. A howl had roused him from a restless sleep and he had tiredly popped his head into the storm and squinted against the darkness to watch that hulking beast about to flatten Ben, only for Samandriel to bravely sink his teeth into the cat’s paw. Out of the entire camp, Michael’s crumbling shelter had been the closest to the lion and when the cat back-handed (back-pawed?) Samandriel into that tree trunk, Michael realised that his feet were already pounding over the ground – broken leg included. 

Perhaps pity had made him rush to his nephew’s aid, yet that didn’t seem right. He hadn’t pitied Samandriel when he’d watched the child’s head slam into the unyielding bark; he remembered his heart racing and his breaths coming hard and fast and something icy had gripped his gut at Ben’s terrified cry. 

Perhaps it had been instinct, then; an instinct to protect an endangered child.

Michael frowned to himself. He didn’t have much experience with children outside of his brothers. Civilised folk tended to keep their offspring away from Novak alphas – and alphas in general to be honest. 

Which was weird now that Michael thought about it, because wild folk seemed to allow every member of their pack to interact with their pups. They didn’t appear to be perpetually afraid of alphas harming or killing their children like civilised folk were. 

“Thank you,” said a small voice to Michael’s right, startling him out of his thoughts.

He turned to face a nervous-looking Samandriel and an anxiety-riddled Ben pressed into his side. Michael tilted his head as Raphael and Lucifer glanced over. 

“Thank you,” Samandriel said again a little firmer, “for saving my life last night.”

“…You’re welcome,” he replied, pretending to ignore the way the entire camp had suddenly stopped what they were doing and were watching him with varying expressions of interest. He bit back a smile. The Winchester pack was a nosy bunch and none of them were as subtle as they believed they were. 

“Uncle Michael? May I ask you something?”

Michael paused at the title. _Uncle_. That was… That made something unusual happen in his chest. He swallowed down the fluttery feeling and raised an eyebrow. “You may.” 

Samandriel hesitated for a moment before a scowl marred his face and he lifted his chin in a good impression of Castiel in his younger years. 

“Why do you hate me?”

The fluttery feeling in Michael’s chest burst into flames and fell into his stomach in a pile of cold ash, and his ears drooped despite themselves. Behind him, Lucifer and Raphael shifted awkwardly. 

“…I don’t hate you,” Michael said slowly, which only seemed to further Samandriel’s irritation.

“Yes, you do,” he said stubbornly. “You wanted to kill me. You wanted to hurt Dad.” The scowl evaporated to be replaced with a lost, sad expression. “I don’t understand,” he mumbled. “What did I do wrong?” 

Michael briefly remembered when Castiel first asked him that question. After their parents had told the four alpha brothers that they weren’t allowed to play with Castiel anymore and that Castiel was something less than they were and should be treated as such, the youngest Novak had asked his eldest brother what he had done wrong. Michael had no answer then and he had merely stated that it was because Castiel was an omega. 

He found himself in a similar position now.

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” sighed Raphael when Michael found himself tongue-tied. “Your grandfather convinced us that you were somehow a disgrace to the family. That you… Well, that you shouldn’t exist.” 

Samandriel lowered his gaze for a moment before tilting his head contemplatively. “And you agreed with him? You must have agreed with him, otherwise you would have stood up for me and Dad. But you hadn’t even met me, so what did I do wrong? I must have done something for you to think I was a disgrace.” 

Raphael snapped his mouth shut and stared at the young alpha, caught off-guard by his intelligence. _Just like Castiel,_ thought Michael in dismay. 

“Or maybe you just wanted to hurt my dad,” frowned Samandriel. “You’ve never been very nice to him. Maybe you just wanted to get rid of me because you knew that he wanted to keep me.” 

Raphael blinked and shook his head. “No, that’s not… Our parents – your grandparents – they didn’t believe in unmarried omegas bearing children. They asked us to-” 

“You keep blaming grandmother and grandfather,” interrupted Samandriel firmly, “but you’re Dad’s _brothers._ You should have stuck up for him. That’s what family does. That’s what Sam and Dean do.” 

Raphael was cowed into silence and he looked to his older brothers helplessly.

“It isn’t that simple,” said Michael after a few moments. “Your grandfather was leader of the Novak family. We had to do as he said.” 

Samandriel scrunched his nose up in frustration and shook his head. “Dad said that _you_ were leader of the Novak family. You were in charge and you could have told your dad that you didn’t want to hurt us, but you broke into our house and you would have killed me if uncle Gabe hadn’t let us escape.” He glared at Michael with his chin raised defiantly. 

Michael’s ears dropped. “…I was head of the family, but that doesn’t mean that I was in charge. Dad was still very much in control of everything. He just let me play alpha for a while.” 

Samandriel’s scowl deepened. “Stop trying to blame everything on Grandfather. We all know that Grandfather is a horrible alpha. _But so are you_. You tried to kill me and hurt Dad and uncle Gabe.” 

“You’re bullies,” Ben piped up quietly from Samandriel’s side as he frowned disapprovingly at the three older Novaks. “Mean bullies who think that being alphas gives you the right to do anything you want, even if it hurts other people.” 

Michael and Raphael gaped at the pair, at a loss for words. They had never had children argue back at them before and they weren’t entirely sure what to do now that Ben and Samandriel were accusing them of being in the wrong. To be honest, very few adults had argued with them so brazenly – the Novak name struck fear into many hearts. 

Surprisingly, it was Lucifer who replied. “You’re right,” he sighed, head on his paws. “We should have stood up for you.” 

Samandriel blinked, clearly stunned by Lucifer’s simple agreement and Michael and Raphael glanced at their brother with raised eyebrows. 

Shrugging, Lucifer lowered his gaze and fell quiet once more.

“…Then why didn’t you?” Samandriel asked quietly, cautiously padding towards Lucifer. “Do you hate me and Dad or something?” 

At Samandriel’s weak voice, Lucifer lifted his head. “No,” he offered. “No, we’re just assholes.”

Ben and Samandriel’s lips quirked as Raphael furrowed his brows. “…I don’t think you’re supposed to use that word in front of children, Lucifer.” 

Lucifer shrugged again. “We tried to murder him; I don’t think bad language matters anymore.”

A grin began to bloom over Samandriel’s features and his tail swayed lightly. Lucifer huffed and dropped his head to his paws once more. 

“We’re sorry, Samandriel. We’re sorry for what we tried to do to you and what we did to your dad and your uncle Gabriel. You’ve done nothing wrong. Your dad was born an omega and we punished him all his life for it because we thought that being alphas made us better than him. Your friend’s right,” Lucifer murmured as he glanced to Ben. “We are bullies. We even bullied your uncle Gabriel about his size and scent.”

His lips pulled into a thin line. “Don’t know why he wanted to save us last week. He would have been better leaving us for dead. We’ve been awful to everyone here.” 

Michael and Raphael stared at their brother in bewilderment. They had never heard their brother sound so depressed. Of course, he sulked and felt sorry for himself on occasion, but Lucifer sounded genuinely apologetic now – as though he truly did regret the damage that he had caused. 

Samandriel seemed to size Lucifer up. “You’re really sorry?” he asked sternly.

“Yes,” whispered Lucifer. 

Samandriel crept closer to the older alpha. “Okay, but you can’t be mean anymore. You have to be nice to Dad and uncle Gabe. _And_ you have to do what Dean and uncle Sam say – they’re just trying to take care of us all, but they can’t do that if you fight them all the time.” He pulled a face. “I suppose you can still hate me if you want, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t. I think it would be better if we could be friends." 

Lucifer’s gaze softened and a small smile tugged at his lips. “I think it would be better if we were friends too.”

Samandriel’s tail wiggled. “Really?” 

Lucifer nodded. “Let me get this straight. If I’m nice to your dad and uncle Gabriel and I do everything Sam and Dean say without arguing with them, are you saying that we could be friends?” 

Samandriel’s whole body began to shake with the force of his tail and he nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! Yeah, that’s right!” 

Lucifer frowned thoughtfully. “And Ben, do you agree with that?” he asked as he shifted his gaze to the little omega. “If I do all that, do you think we could be friends too?” 

The young omega paused. “As long as you don’t hurt Samandriel,” he said eventually. “You’ve got to promise that you won’t ever hurt him.” 

Lucifer hummed in deep contemplation. “Okay, so, if I promise to be kind to Castiel and Gabriel, follow Sam and Dean’s orders, _and_ to protect Samandriel and never hurt him, that means that we can be friends?” 

A shy smile lit Ben’s face and he nodded eagerly.

Lucifer raised his right paw. “Then I, Lucifer Novak, hereby swear to be kind to my youngest brothers, follow any instructions given by the Winchester brothers, and I promise never to harm my only nephew; Samandriel Novak. I swear to protect him in the hopes that he and his friend – Ben…” He paused and glanced at Ben. 

“Braeden,” whispered the little omega.

Lucifer nodded solemnly. “In the hopes that he and his friend – Ben Braeden – will grant me the honour of becoming my new friends.” 

Both pups’ tails motored from side to side and they bounced from paw to paw in unrestrained excitement. When Lucifer lowered his paw, Samandriel scampered towards him and butted his head against Lucifer’s affectionately. Lucifer blinked in surprise and gently butted the pup in return, uncertain how else to respond. Samandriel gave an enthusiastic yip and bounced backwards, allowing Ben to crawl forwards – clearly more cautious than his friend. 

Unsure as to what was going on, Lucifer carefully butted Ben’s head and the young omega suddenly relaxed and returned the gesture before chasing Samandriel to the other side of the camp. Lucifer stared after them in amusement, chest warm and airy and mind trying to figure out what on Earth had just happened. 

He noticed the silence around him and he looked up to find his brothers openly gaping at him and the rest of the pack staring at him with eyes as round as dinner plates. 

“What?” he huffed defensively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprised? ;)
> 
> As always, all comments, constructive criticism, and suggestions welcome :)
> 
> (Also, sorry for the late update - was super busy yesterday!)


	15. Chapter 15

“So… it’s not just me who thought that was weird, right?” Dean asked, voice a low murmur to deter any potential eavesdroppers. 

Sam snorted and shook his head to clear the shock from his face. “Yeah, no. I don’t think anyone expected _Lucifer_ to be good with kids.” 

“I grew up with him and I didn’t expect it,” whispered Gabriel, trying very hard not to let his gaze slide over to his older brother. “And can we please talk about him being the one to admit to being an ass? _Lucifer_. The most aggressive and hard-headed of all the Novak brood.” 

“Maybe he really is changing,” shrugged Sam. “Maybe they’re telling the truth about everything.”

“I don’t trust it,” muttered Castiel. “They’ve lied all their lives; why change now?” 

A sigh slipped past Gabriel’s lips. “Cassie… They saved Samandriel’s life last night. They were willing to risk their own for it.” 

Castiel’s gaze narrowed. “And two years ago, they tried to murder him. Excuse me for not leaping to their defence.” 

“ _Four_ years ago, they tried to murder him,” Gabriel corrected. “The day you left Tallahasse. Two years ago, they told us that the Winchesters could keep Samandriel but you and I had to go home with them. They weren’t going to kill Samandriel when they came here last time.” 

“No, they just tried to burn us all alive,” bit out Castiel sarcastically. “Why are you so intent on defending them?”

“Because I really believe that they can change!” Gabriel huffed out exasperatedly. 

Castiel scoffed and glared at his brother. “No, you really _want_ them to change because for some reason, you’re determined to see good in them when there is none.” 

Irritation flickered across Gabriel’s face and Sam and Dean shared a wordless glance as their lovers settled into their argument. 

“I remember running to Michael after Mom first locked me in the study for six hours after I forgot to do my homework. I was seven years old and she refused to give me any dinner and locked me in there without a single glass of water. I cried for three hours before I realised it wouldn’t do anything. When she finally unlocked the door, I ran straight to Michael’s room and he was waiting for me on the floor with a sandwich and a glass of juice, which he had smuggled out of the kitchen when our parents weren’t looking,” said Gabriel quietly. “I cried for another hour and he held me until I stopped. 

“When I was eight, I asked Mom if we could go camping. Mom laughed and told me that camping was for ‘poor people’. That night, Lucifer took me to the edge of Apalachicola forest and set up a tent that he had borrowed from a friend. We toasted marshmallows, told each other scary stories and pointed out constellations until I fell asleep in his arms.” 

“Gabriel-”

“When I was eleven,” said Gabriel pointedly, cutting Castiel off before he had a chance to start, “I had my first rut. I didn’t know what was happening to me and I was so scared. Everything hurt and I couldn’t stop the itch under my skin. Mom and Dad told me it was normal and when I said that I was frightened and in pain, they sent me up to my room and told me to ‘use common sense and sort it out’. I didn’t know what they meant and they refused to explain – called me stupid for not working it out. Raphael came to my room to check on me and when he found me sobbing on the bed, he told me what to do and left me some painkillers. Then, he returned with a bottle of omega perfume and sprayed my pillow with it to help reduce my discomfort. The rut made me snarl and yell at him, yet he did everything he could to make me comfortable.” 

Gabriel’s gaze was hard as he stared at Castiel. “ _That’s_ why I’m defending them. I can’t just give up on them. I know you hate them, but they were good once and I truly believe that the brothers from my childhood are still in there somewhere.”

Castiel squared his jaw and narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what I remember from my childhood? I remember being six years old and begging Michael to stop kicking me. I remember my first heat at twelve and Lucifer standing in my doorway and staring at me with this _look_ in his eyes as though he wanted to pin me to the bed. I remember being fourteen and Raphael dislocating my shoulder after an argument. I remember other things too – being shoved down the stairs, thrown into walls, being beaten so hard that I threw up… There is _no_ goodness in our brothers, Gabriel. I assure you,” Castiel snapped.

Gabriel’s ears fell and he appeared to struggle hearing some of the hardships that Castiel had faced. Eventually, he frowned.

“You gave me a chance.”

“You always stood up for me,” Castiel pointed out. “You didn’t hate me.” 

“Oh, come on, Cas. We fought too,” sighed Gabriel. “I’ve lost count of the number of times we scrapped and shoved at each other. We argued plenty as kids and adults, sometimes with our fists.” 

Castiel winced a little at the memories before shaking his head. “It’s different. We stood up for one another when our brothers took things too far. We never hit each other so hard that we couldn’t walk. When you found out about Samandriel, you promised to protect both of us. You helped us to escape.” 

Gabriel snorted bitterly. “When I found out about Samandriel, we had a straight-up brawl. We trashed your living room.” 

“Through frustration,” Castiel said quickly. “I was terrified when you saw him. I wasn’t thinking properly and I reacted. You responded out of frustration. It wasn’t a long fight and we weren’t really trying to hurt each other.” 

“Still a fight, Cas,” sighed Gabriel as he shuffled closer to his little brother. He didn’t enjoy remembering the occasions that he had hurt his favourite brother and he could see that Castiel was equally distressed by the memories. “If you’re going to hate Michael, Luci, and Raph, you should probably hate me too.” 

Castiel shook his head and closed the distance between them. He pressed his face into Gabriel’s chest, a quiet whine escaping his throat, and Gabriel tugged him closer and nuzzled his head. 

“You’ve always been different,” whispered Castiel. “You saved me from Lucifer during my first heat. You stopped Michael from kicking me even though you knew what he would do to you. You took me to the hospital when Raphael dislocated my arm from my shoulder. You’ve always taken care of me, regardless of whether we were fighting at the time.” 

Gabriel inhaled his brother’s scent deeply to calm the distraught feelings in his chest. He loved Castiel and he despised arguing with him. 

“Gabe, it isn’t just Samandriel I’m worried about,” Castiel whispered as he pulled back to gaze into familiar amber eyes. “I’m worried about you. I know you remember the good times with them, but I remember the awful things they did to you. I remember them ridiculing you in front of your friends until everyone laughed at you. I remember them breaking your things to teach you a lesson. I remember them beating you bloody. I remember finding you broken and bruised in your bedroom and the bathroom and the kitchen and the garage and having to clean you up. I remember the day they came into your room in the middle of the night and caused that.” He gestured to Gabriel’s floppy ear. “Gabriel, I don’t want them to hurt you. I want to know that you’re safe.” 

Gabriel’s gaze softened and he dragged his brother in for a desperate hug.

“I nearly lost you last time they were here,” whispered Castiel, voice suspiciously shaky. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I love you far too much for it.” 

“I love you too, Castiel,” Gabriel murmured, tightening his grip. “I promise nothing will happen to me. You’re gonna be stuck with me for a long time.” 

He reared backwards and nuzzled Castiel’s tears away. “But they just saved Samandriel’s life. I know it doesn’t make up for all the crap they’ve put us through, but it’s a start. They were willing to get mauled by a mountain lion to keep Samandriel safe – they at least deserve a thank you, right?” 

Castiel pouted.

“Do it for me?” Gabriel asked, fluttering his eyelashes. 

Castiel’s lips twitched upwards briefly before he rolled his eyes and butted Gabriel’s head affectionately.

“Fine. For you.”

* * *

That evening, Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael retreated to the edges of the camp as usual and eased themselves onto the ground despite their aching bodies. 

Michael sighed as he lay his head on his paws. Boredom was beginning to set in and combined with his bruised muscles and torn limbs, he realised that he was beginning to regret leaving the city. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he’d asked his brothers to explore the wild with him. At least he now knew that Gabriel was alive. Little victories. 

A salmon landed in front of his nose and he jerked backwards in surprise before wincing as his broken ribs protested. He flicked his gaze upwards to find Castiel scowling at him. Beside him, Ben and Samandriel held two salmon between their jaws and they trotted towards Lucifer and Raphael to deposit them. 

Michael slowly heaved himself into a sitting position and watched Castiel back up.

“Thank you,” Castiel grumbled before turning away from his older brother. 

Michael stared at the fish for a moment before returning his gaze to his retreating brother. “Wait, Castiel.”

Castiel paused but refused to face his oldest brother. 

“I’m sorry,” confessed Michael.

“For what?” Castiel huffed, head low. 

“For everything,” Michael murmured. “For everything I ever did to you.”

Castiel closed his eyes for a moment before stalking away wordlessly, leaving Michael to stare after him. He sighed and was about to tuck into his fish when the conversation beside him caught his attention. 

“Can you fish, uncle Lucifer?” Samandriel asked curiously.

Michael noticed Lucifer’s grimace and the terrible memory of the day Lucifer was swept down the river slithered into Michael’s mind. He winced and said nothing as Lucifer cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

“Ah… no. No, I can’t.”

Samandriel perked up and wiggled his tail. “Well, Pam’s a really good teacher! She taught my dad and when I’m old enough, Dean said she’ll teach me. Maybe she can teach you too?” 

A small smile crossed Lucifer’s face and he flicked his gaze around the camp. “Maybe. You’ll have to point her out to me – I don’t know who she is.” 

Samandriel’s tongue poked out between his teeth as he surveyed the camp. Finally, he gestured to a coffee-coloured beta with black paws and a black-painted tail tip. 

“That’s Pam,” he said. “She got bitten by a snake when she was younger and now, she’s blind. She’s amazing at fishing – says she can hear their movements in the water.” 

Lucifer raised his eyebrows and Ben joined Samandriel’s side.

“You should talk to her,” Ben said. “Or talk to anyone really. You could probably do with some friends. You always look really lonely on your own over here.” 

Lucifer dropped his head onto his paws. “I don’t think anyone here has any interest in talking to us, kid.”

“Only because they think you’re mean,” shrugged Ben. “But if you talk to them, they’ll see that you’re not that bad.” 

Lucifer eyed the pack warily and Michael slipped into the conversation.

“We’ll be leaving soon anyway. Once we’re healed, we’ll go. There’s little point in trying to talk to a pack that hates us when we’re not going to be staying for too long.” 

Samandriel’s brow furrowed as he faced Michael. “So, you’d prefer people to hate you instead of making an effort to talk to them? That’s kinda stupid.” 

“And lazy,” agreed Ben.

“Why be enemies when you can be friends?” Samandriel asked. 

Michael shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

“But it is,” Samandriel insisted. “Just talk to people.” 

“You’re children,” sighed Michael. “I don’t expect you to understand these sorts of politics. It’s far too complicated.”

Both Samandriel and Ben scowled indignantly and Lucifer rolled his eyes.

“Then explain it to them,” he huffed. “Get off your high horse and explain what you mean, Michael.” 

Samandriel and Ben shot Lucifer warm smiles before returning their gazes to Michael and sitting down patiently. Michael glanced between his brother and both children before licking his lips. He hadn’t expected Lucifer to take their side. 

“…The Winchester and Novak families have a lot of history. They’ve done terrible things to one another – they’ve fought and murdered each other. They’ve been enemies for a long time – long before the Novaks ventured out of the wild. We have centuries of bad blood between us, so we can’t merely ‘talk and make friends’. Understand?” 

Samandriel wrinkled his nose. “I know the story of why the Winchesters and Novaks fell out. It was a rogue wolf who killed the Novak leader’s mate. The Winchesters were blamed because the rogue was a new member of their pack and they never expected he’d do that. It was all a big misunderstanding, really.” 

He scowled and flicked his gaze between Lucifer and Michael. “But it still doesn’t make sense why _you_ won’t talk to anyone here. What do those old packs have to do with you guys? It’s not like you knew any of them personally.” 

Michael blinked. “They’re our packs. The Winchester and Novak packs. It has _everything_ to do with them. That is how our feud began.” 

Samandriel rolled his eyes impatiently. “They’re not really _your_ packs though. You share DNA with them, sure, but that’s about it. All those people are dead now. The living members make the pack, not the dead ones.” 

Michael was taken aback by the little alpha’s intelligence. It had never crossed his mind that Samandriel would be _smart_. 

“Yeah, like Sam and Dean’s dad hurt people all the time. He treated Sam and Dean horribly when they were pups and he bullied the rest of the pack when he was leader. Then when he left, he had another pup – Adam – and he hurt him all the time too, until the Winchester pack rescued him. The Winchester pack is very different now compared to when John led it – and he’s not even dead. Samandriel’s right: the members make the pack,” said Ben. 

Michael glanced between both boys as Lucifer barely managed to conceal his amused grin.

“Wait, John Winchester isn’t dead?” Raphael asked, reminding everyone that he was still there. 

Samandriel shook his head. “Nope. He came back three years ago to try to take over the pack again. He pretended to be nice to Sam and Dean, but then we found out that he was hurting Adam and Adam admitted that his dad was going to challenge Dean for his title as head alpha.” 

Ben nodded enthusiastically. “Even though we’d just had a fight with Azazel’s pack and Dean was injured, he still beat John in their fight; who, it turned out, had led Azazel’s pack to us.” 

Michael sat a little straighter, suddenly very interested in the conversation. “Dean fought his own father?”

Both children nodded. “To protect the pack,” said Samandriel. “John treated everyone horribly when he was in charge. Dean didn’t want him to hurt anyone else.” 

“Why did John leave originally?” asked Raphael, curiosity lighting his gaze. “What made him leave his own sons?” 

“He was a bad father,” Ben shrugged as he scratched idly at his ear. “And the rest of the pack drove him out when Dean was twenty. Bobby and Ellen and the others taught Dean how to be a good leader and now the pack is a lot happier.” 

Michael was silent for a few moments as he mulled the new information over. “So, the pack… _chose_ Dean to lead them? Why didn’t one of the older alphas take over? Why follow Dean?” 

Ben cocked his head as a frown scrunched his features. “I’m not really sure. Maybe they just thought that Dean would be a good leader; he protected Sam when John lashed out at him and he’s always been a nice alpha. He’s kind and caring and he looks after all of us. Maybe the older alphas saw that in Dean and they thought that he would make a better leader than any of them?” 

Michael fell quiet again as Ben said, “You’ll have to ask Bobby.”

Thinking about his own parents, Michael wondered if he would be able to challenge his father for the Novak family. He knew what it was like to be abused by a parent and he couldn’t fathom the idea of fighting tooth and claw with Zachariah Novak. He wondered what had been going through Dean’s head when he had to face John. Surely, he had been terrified? Intimidated? Desperate for an escape route? Michael swallowed; he could never fight his own father. He remembered too many beatings at his father’s hands, too many strikes from that worn, nightmarish leather belt. He would be paralysed by the older alpha’s furious scent. He could never triumph against his father in a fight. 

“Anyway,” hummed Samandriel, “enjoy the fish. And thanks again for saving me.”

The older Novaks watched the younger wolves trot away and they lapsed into a heavy silence as they thought about what they had learned.

* * *

“So, all omegas have heats, regardless of whether they’re male or female?” 

Adam lounged beside the crystal-clear river, dipping his toes in every so often as he soaked up the warm rays of sunshine. 

“Yeah. All omegas,” he said.

Jack stared at his own distorted reflection in the bobbing waves and made a sound of realisation. “So, my old pack was wrong. I wasn’t diseased and I didn’t have something wrong with my brain; I was in heat. I’ve had two heats every year since I was thirteen and that’s… normal.” 

Frowning, Adam raised his head to look at Jack. “They said you had something wrong with your brain?”

Jack shrugged. “They already thought that there was something wrong with me anyway. I wasn’t maturing as fast as them – I couldn’t hunt or fight as early as they could and I appeared really small for my age. When I was four, I was still as small as their five-month-old pups. Now that I know how different our life-expectancy is compared to them, I know I was normal, but I didn’t realise that at the time. I just thought there was something wrong with me. Being diseased or having something wrong with my brain that made my body hurt and my emotions go crazy twice a year didn’t seem like that big of a stretch.” 

Adam’s scowl deepened. “Yeah but… having your pack call you diseased and stupid all the time must have upset you. Didn’t you ever stand up for yourself?” 

Jack averted his gaze. “…I mean… I guess I felt a little lonely sometimes. There wasn’t much I could do, though. I was at the bottom of the pack and whenever I did let my emotions get the better of me, there were… consequences. It was better to keep quiet.” He offered Adam a smile. “Besides, they didn’t know any better. They always protected me and they taught me to hunt and fight and while there were times that they got angry and exasperated with me, there were a lot of good times too. They were my family and they tried to do what was best for me, even though they didn’t really understand what I was.” 

“They bullied you,” protested Adam. “They insulted you and attacked you when you stood up for yourself. That’s not family.” 

Suddenly, Jack frowned. “They didn’t understand, yet they took me in anyway. They were as patient as they could be. Timbers aren’t like you – their social cues are different and their packs have a whole other hierarchy. They tried their best to treat me like one of their own, but sometimes, they just couldn’t. You can’t blame them; they really did try.” 

“They abandoned you,” scoffed Adam. “They dumped you in the middle of nowhere with a stranger and left you.” 

Jack stood with a thick scowl. “I was too different and they realised that they couldn’t keep me. They discussed everything with me first and they told me that they were going to return me to my own kind. Yes, they left me with a stranger, but they didn’t just hand me over to the first shifter they came across. They left me with you because you didn’t smell threatening and they saw that you were taking care of pups. They didn’t just abandon me.” 

Adam stared at the omega incredulously. “Why are you defending them? They basically left you to die! They’re cruel and unfeeling. They’re monsters!” 

A fierce growl bubbled out of Jack’s chest and before Adam had time to blink, Jack had him pinned on his back, teeth bared and gaze narrowed. 

“Just because you don’t understand their culture, it doesn’t give you the right to degrade them. They’re not cruel or unfeeling, they’re just different to you,” hissed Jack. 

Adam stilled, eyes wide and nervous as he attempted to make himself appear unthreatening. Why had he wandered out here alone when he knew how fast Jack was? 

“I’m sorry,” he managed after a few moments. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Jack continued to scowl at him until eventually sliding off the beta and slumping into a moody heap beside the river. Adam tilted his head, guilt settling in the pit of his stomach. He approached the beta warily. 

“Do you miss them?” he asked quietly.

Jack nodded, unwilling to meet his gaze. “They were my family. I know I’m not a timber wolf, but I felt like one. They treated me like one and I know you don’t understand it, but I was actually really happy.” He wrinkled his nose. “Learning shifter etiquette is hard. It’s a whole different culture and I keep messing up.” 

Cautiously, Adam sat beside the younger wolf. “It’s not that difficult. You’ll get it.”

Jack fixed him with a half-hearted glare. “I’ve had a couple of weeks to learn what you’ve learned over nineteen years. Trust me, Beta, when I say it’s _hard_.” He dropped his gaze and muttered under his breath, “And you’ve not exactly made it easy for me.” 

Adam blinked in surprise and frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re always coming to me with questions.” 

“Your Alpha keeps sending me to you,” huffed Jack. “Although I don’t understand why because you clearly don’t like me.” 

Adam’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “His name is _Dean_. How many times do we have to tell you that he doesn’t like being called ‘ _Alpha’_? And why on Earth would you think I don’t like you?” 

“Because you’re always snapping at me!” Jack yelled as he leaped to his paws. “You’re always complaining about me and acting like you’re embarrassed by me! This is all hard for me and I feel really alone! I hate it here and I just want to go home!” 

Adam’s mouth clicked shut as tears glistened in Jack’s eyes. The omega gave a frustrated bark more suited to a timber wolf than a shifter, then huffed and shook his head. He began to pace up and down the riverbank, huffing and whining and if Adam had been watching from a distance, he would have dismissed the omega as a feral wolf working through its emotions. 

Jack suddenly ceased his pacing and glared at Adam. “You and your pack think that you’re better than them, but you’re not. You call them bullies and say they’re cruel, but you’re the ones who laugh at me and call me weird for acting like the wolves who raised me. You’re the ones who expect me to behave like a shifter without ever being taught how to. You’ve made it very clear that I’m a burden to you – a stupid pup who doesn’t quite fit in. Well, to be honest, I’m not exactly having a great time with you either.” 

Jack’s ears flattened and his head ducked lower. “I want to go home,” he whispered as he squeezed his eyes shut and fought against the tears threatening to roll down his cheeks. 

Adam shrunk in on himself, shame and guilt eating away at his gut until he could no longer stand the heavy silence between them. He shuffled towards Jack with drooping ears and carefully nuzzled the omega’s tears away. 

“I’m sorry,” Adam whispered, chest aching. “I’m really sorry. I never meant to upset you. I guess I’m just a jerk.”

Jack cracked an eye open and gazed at the beta curiously as Adam continued to dry his tears. 

“You’re right. I’ve not been very nice to you and I don’t think before I speak.” Adam averted his gaze embarrassedly. “I know what it’s like to feel alone in a pack of strangers. I know what it’s like to have someone bully you and you feel like there’s no one to tell or talk to. I know what it’s like to feel as though you’re a burden on the pack – as though you mess everything up and you don’t know how to do normal shifter things. I’m sorry, Jack; I shouldn’t have made you feel like that. I hated it when I was in your place.” 

Jack cocked his head to one side and turned to face the beta. “…You couldn’t do normal shifter things either?”

“I was useless,” Adam laughed bitterly, not quite meeting Jack’s gaze. “Still am sometimes. My dad is a horrible alpha. He abused Sam and Dean before leaving them and then when he had me, he abused me too. He would hit me and bite me and all sorts of awful things, and my mom left me to fend for myself against him. I was never taught how to hunt or fight or defend myself because my dad wanted me to be dependent on him. When he brought me to the Winchester pack, I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone and I got into fights with my brothers all the time.” He pawed idly at a pebble and kicked it into the river. “It was weeks before I told them what was really going on. The pack stood up for me and chased my dad off. I should have told them sooner. I should have been kinder to them.” 

Finally, he turned to Jack. “You’re not a burden and you’re not weird. I should’ve been more patient with you. I promise that I don’t hate you. Please, give us another chance – I know this pack can be home to you.” 

Jack hesitated for a moment before pawing at the ground. “You have to help me,” he murmured. “I barely know anything about shifters and I’m not going to be able to learn everything in a few days. It’s hard to remember everything and sometimes, I’ll slip back into old habits. Please don’t shout at me – it’s really tiring to keep acting like something I’m not every day. I’m used to being around wolves who act like me and I can’t help but feel alone when I can’t do the things that I used to.” 

Jack licked his lips and lifted a paw and Adam vaguely recognised it as a sign of anxiety in a feral wolf. Searching the back of his mind for nuggets of information about their non-shifting canine counterparts, Adam hazily recalled a gesture used to comfort those in distress. He slid closer to Jack and settled against his side and when the omega glanced at him in surprise, he pressed deeper into his colourful fur. 

A delighted sound tumbled from Jack’s lips and he rolled onto his side, encouraging Adam to sprawl on top of him, so Adam did with a smile and a gently swaying tail. Jack huffed up at him and batted his face lightly and Adam responded by jawing with the omega and slumping beside him so that they could continue playfighting. 

Suddenly, Jack wrapped his paws around Adam and wedged his face against the beta’s chest with a short whine.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you, Beta,” Jack mumbled against Adam’s chest. 

Adam slowly slipped his paws around the omega and nestled his chin on top of Jack’s head. He didn’t have the heart to correct the title. 

“I deserved it. Tell you what; how about I teach you about shifter culture and you teach me about timber culture and then when you’re tired of acting like a shifter all day, you can be yourself around me? I promise I won’t snap or complain or laugh at you.” 

Jack pulled away slightly to stare into Adam’s eyes excitedly. “…Really?”

A smile crept over Adam’s face as he nodded and Jack’s tail thumped the ground as he lurched forwards and lapped submissively at Adam’s muzzle. He jerked backwards sharply when he realised what he had done and began to apologise, but Adam shook his head with a grin. 

“It’s alright,” he whispered. “Timber wolf thing, right?”

Jack nodded shyly before smiling when he realised that he wasn’t about to be yelled at and he leaned forwards again to lick Adam’s muzzle gratefully. 

Adam’s gaze softened as Jack curled into him once more, smelling a lot happier than he had a few minutes ago. He watched the omega’s eyes slide shut as he basked in the warm sunshine and he glanced around them for a few seconds before concluding that they were both safe and alone for the moment. He tucked Jack’s head into his chest and closed his own eyes, joining his new friend in a mid-afternoon nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the extremely late chapter, guys! Uni has been absolutely nuts! They've been giving us 2 and 3 assessments every day (and oh boy, have we complained) - if it continues, I'm afraid I might only be able to get one chapter per week out :/ Either way, hope you enjoyed this installment.


End file.
